All for an Idol
by Shinra Sephiroth
Summary: Cloud has no idea what he's getting himself into when he joins the SOLDIER trainee program. A promiscuous roommate and maybe more than just wanting to be like his childhood idol... Yaoi ZackxCloud SephirothxCloud Adult situations
1. Beginning the Years

Cloud examined his surroundings. The harsh sheen of metal made him feel...vulnerable, and well, real. He found himself gazing on people who seemed just as harsh and unreal as his surroundings. "Name?" one of the stern men asked, coldly.

"C-Cloud Strife." He replied, wincing inside at how wimpy it came out. The man checked his list, and then handed him a few papers.

"Sign these, and then return them to the desk over there. You will then be assigned a room, as well as given instructions. Next." he called, as if Cloud never existed.

Cloud gulped nervously and moved away from the man as fast as he could. He then mentally smacked himself. 'You aren't going to get anywhere, Strife, unless you shape up. You'll be spending the next few years here, so deal with it, if you want to become a member of SOLDIER.' he mentally reprimanded himself. He fished around his bag for a pen and looked down at the papers he had been handed. They were medical legal forms, and all of them pretty much stated that if you get hurt or die, it's not ShinRa's fault. "Great." Cloud muttered, and signed them. "Do they give us wills, too?" Cloud walked them over to the indicated desk.

There was a bored-looking woman there, who took the papers, glanced at them, and then at another sheet. "Cloud Strife, B6. " she stated in a toneless voice, "Rooms are on the twenty-fifth floor, the elevator is to your left. You will get situated in your room, dinner is at six, and the rest of the time is given to you to do with as you wish. Breakfast begins at 5:30. If you arrive later than 6:00, you won't be given any. Training and role call is at 6:30. Any questions consult the rules that are posted regularly in the hallways. Welcome to ShinRa." Her entire speech was monotone and automatic, as if she did it for a living-oh, wait, she did.

Cloud nodded wordlessly and walked away. Yep, he had certainly done himself in. He walked to the elevator and punched the call button. He adjusted his bag out of nervousness and stepped inside the elevator as it arrived. Pushing the button for twenty-five, after finding it among the many buttons, he waited for it to arrive at his floor. At one point, it stopped for a ShinRa employee who swiped his card, causing the button for 56 to light up. Cloud noticed that all of the floors for 50 and above were indicated with red, and he assumed that to reach those floors, you would need a keycard.

Cloud left the elevator nervously at his floor, and looked around. There was a very long hallway stretching away from him. Along it were the entrances to other hallways. Cloud walked forwards to the first of these and looked down it. He could see many doors. A30 was on the door on the left hallway, and A31 on the right hallway. Cloud assumed that these crossroads were alphabetical, so he kept going straight until the next one. This one had B30 on the left and B31 on the right. Wondering how many letters of the alphabet they used, he was tempted to see. Not wanting to get lost, though, he assumed he should take the left path, and did. He could hear voices from down one of the many hallways and also from inside some of the rooms.

B23...B11...B7...and, here it was, B6. Cloud wondered whether to knock or just enter. Being polite, he knocked. He heard a scuffling sound from inside and soon the door was opened, "Hey, what're you doing visiting in the...oh." The boy said, looking at Cloud. He had longer-than-usual spiky black hair, and an...open...air about him. "Who're you?"

Cloud looked at the boy standing in front of him. He seemed a little older than himself, and was leaning casually on the frame of the door. "Oh, uh...I'm Cloud Strife. They told me my bunk was here."

The boy looked closely at him, his eyes running all over Cloud's body and making him feel like a horse or something. Any moment he expected him to examine his teeth. The boy nodded, apparently satisfied with something. "Really... It's been a while since they had anyone room with me...not since...anyway, there must be a lotta new people this year. Come inside, Cloud." He said, stepping out of the doorway.

Cloud hesitantly walked inside and looked around. The place was covered in clothes, and it definitely looked lived in. There was a bed on one side of the room that looked as if it had never been made. The boy hurried over to the other side and cleared a bunch of clothes, revealing another bed underneath them. "This is your bed I suppose." he said, indicating the bed he had just cleared. "Sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting anyone to be living in here besides me." He continued to clear spots on the floor from the clothes, putting them in a pile. "I'm Zack by the way."

Cloud slowly walked over to the bed and put his bag on it. Zack grinned at him. "Don't worry I won't bite." he said, still cleaning. He examined a jacket he had just picked up, "Oops, he left that here..." he mumbled.

"What?" Cloud asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. That's the best I can do, I suppose." Zack said, examining the large pile of clothes he had made. He sat down on his bed, motioning for Cloud to sit on his. "Make yourself at home. It's not the best place on earth, but at least ShinRa has the decency to house ya'. So, where are you from?"

Cloud sat down, wondering at the ease and looseness of the boy in front of him. "Nibelheim."

"Wow, that's far. Ever been to Midgar before?" Zack asked, sprawling himself across his bed.

Cloud shook his head.

"It's a weird place. A place were people do anything they can to survive, anything... It's kinda funny how ShinRa takes everything away from the people, while claiming to give them something. I joined because my parents didn't have enough money to feed me and themselves becuase of ShinRa taxes. Ironic isn't it?" he asked

Cloud nodded.

"Ever been to Gongaga? That's my hometown."

Cloud shook his head silently.

"Ever been off that continent?"

He shook his head again.

"Do they have a reactor in Nibelheim?"

Cloud nodded, looking down at his bed.

Zack smirked and asked, "Have you ever laid anyone?"

Cloud jumped at the question and looked at Zack. "What?"

Zack laughed, "I'm just kidding. Just wanted to check if you were still alive." Zack looked at him closely and after a pause, "...So have you?"

Cloud shook his head vigorously, his face heating slightly, "No!"

Zack laughed again. "Sorry, you're just too easy to get nervous." He checked his watch. "It's almost dinner time, you wanna head down with me?" He stood.

Standing as well, Cloud said, "Alright."

Zack walked over to the door and opened it, entering the hallway. "Hurry up, Cloud, or we'll get suck with leftovers-from last month!"

Cloud followed him as they went to the elevators. Out of curiosity, he asked, "How many letters are there for rooms?"

"Don't worry, they only go to G. There aren't that many SOLDIER trainees." Zack assured him, as they rode down the elevator to level 23, the mess hall.

They entered the line for food, and Cloud looked around at all the boys in there. They seemed to range from younger than Cloud, to almost adults. Zack sniffed the air. "Finally, it's hamburger day. I hope you're not too used to home-cooked food."

"Huh?" Cloud asked, getting a very intimidated feeling from all of the stronger-looking people around him.

"Get you're head out of the clouds, Cloud." Zack said laughing. One of the guys walked over to Zack and waved. "Hey, Laguna!" Zack said, waving back.

"Hi, Zack." the person named Laguna said, reaching them. "Who's this? A new recruit?"

Zack nodded, "Yep. This is Cloud."

"One of your recruits or one of ShinRa's?" Laguna asked, winking.

"He's one of ShinRa's, though he's staying in my room." Zack replied.

"Really? They finally started to forgive you for that, did they?" Laguna said, grinning, "This means we'll have to find somewhere else, huh?"

Zack looked at Cloud and then back at Laguna. "Yeah, I suppose so."

Cloud had absolutely no idea what was going on, and he didn't ask, getting the feeling he didn't want to know. "Sorry for intruding on you." he apologized.

"Nah, It's not your fault." Zack said, putting an arm around Cloud's shoulder. "Cloud, this is my good friend Laguna." he said by way of introduction.

"Hello." Cloud said, somewhat shyly. "You sure I'm not being a bother? I could always-"

"I told you, it's no problem at all." Zack told him. "We really need to get you more social."

They all got their food and headed for a table. Sitting down, Laguna suggested, "Maybe we should spike his drink."

"What?" Cloud asked, scooting away from them slightly.

"He was just joking. If we were to do that we'd tell ya' first. Actually, we'd probably drink it all ourselves, since it takes a lot of sneaking and cunning to get alcohol around here. It's against 'The Rules'." Zack replied, motioning to a poster on the wall.

Cloud looked up at it. It said:

The Rules for Soldier trainees:  
1. No fighting with anyone unless training under supervision.  
2. No harassing of any other ShinRa employee.  
3. No Alcohol or Drug use.  
4. No PDA.  
5. No activities after curfew (11:00)

It went on with more petty rules. Cloud gave up reading them after number 21.

Cloud looked at Zack and asked, "What's PDA?

"Public Display of Affection." Zack explained between bites of his hamburger.

"But I though only guys were allowed in SOLDIER." Cloud said.

Zack smirked, "So?"

"You mean..." Cloud trailed off, not really wanting to think about it.

"You'd be amazed how many people here aren't straight." Zack told him, still smirking.

Laguna grinned at him. "You would know."

Cloud looked at both of them, "...Do you mean that..."

Zack raised and eyebrow at Laguna and said, "And you wouldn't?" He then turned to Cloud with a grin. "I've slept with at least half the people here, and the other half want me."

Cloud stared at him, not really knowing what to think, and he unconsciously moved farther away.

"You really are innocent, aren't you?" Zack asked him, with a slight smirk, "We might just have to do something about that..." he took another bite of his hamburger as if nothing strange was going on at all.

"I...uh..." Cloud said his face reddening, as he tried to move farther away, but he had come to the edge of the table.

Laguna smacked Zack on the head, "Stop it, you're scaring him away."

Zack looked at Cloud. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes, I'm not gonna do anything to you."

Cloud nevertheless stayed where he was and silently finished his meal.

Zack finished his as well. "Would you like me to take your tray?" He asked Cloud, Laguna having already left. Not waiting for Cloud's answer, he leaned over and grabbed Cloud's tray, taking the moment to whisper in his ear, "You have to admit that you want me." He then left to put them away.

Cloud's face reddened again. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. A guy was hitting on him? He watched Zack walk away, wondering what was so great about him. Was it his oddly stunning eyes? His coy smirk? The way his hair brushed his perfectly shaped shoulders? The way his hips moved as he walked over a well defined posterior? Cloud shook himself and gave himself a mental smack. 'Was I just checking him out?' he thought, and then, as his eyes lingered on the back of Zack's form, "Am I staring at his butt?" He blushed even more.

When Zack came back and they walked back to the room, Cloud kept his gaze fixedly on the ground. Because of that he didn't notice Zack's sly smirks at him.

'I am not interested in him. I like girls. There's Tifa at home waiting for me.' Cloud told himself, as he crawled into bed for the night, not bothering to tell himself that he had no real attraction for her. She was just his friend, but he knew that she liked him.

Cloud was mostly asleep as he heard Zack leave the room later, and he preferred not to think about where he was going and what he was going to do...or who... 


	2. ShinRa and Shinra

Hello, author note now! I've got an idea where this fic is headed, but with me, ya never know. Over half of this chapter was completely spontaneous, but that's just me. I hope you're enjoying it so far, and if so, review!

Disclaimer: Not owned by me, nope. Well, Seymour and Laguna are, their characters I mean. Their names and everyone else are copyright Square Enix.

Cloud woke to a beeping in his ears from his watch. He groaned and looked at the time; 5:25. He sat up and looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings. Hearing a slight snore from the other side of the room, he turned to see another bed with someone sleeping in it. 'Oh, yeah. I stupidly volunteered myself to be part of ShinRa. Is wanting to become like the great Sephiroth worth all this?' He got out of bed and dressed quickly, for some reason feeling rather uncomfortable being half undressed in the company of someone who claimed to have slept with half of the males trying to become SOLDIERS.

Cloud checked his watch again. 5:45. If he didn't get down to breakfast soon, he wouldn't get any. He glanced at Zack, who was still slightly snoring. 'He must be tired from whoever he did last night.' Cloud thought absently, and grimaced. 'I'd better wake him up anyway, or he'll starve.' He walked over to the other side of the room and asked, "Zack?"

Zack didn't stir.

"Um...Zack?" Cloud said a little louder. When there was still no answer, he put a hand on Zack's shoulder and shook it slightly.

Before Cloud could blink, he found himself pinned up against the wall, Zack's hands on his shoulders and his face inches from his. Cloud did blink as he noticed that Zack's eyes were still closed. Even though he was still asleep or something, the grip on his shoulders was strong, and Cloud couldn't move. "Uh...Zack?" Cloud whispered.

He could feel Zack's breath on his face as his eyes slowly opened. "Huh...?" Zack replied sleepily, and he finally noticed what he was doing. "Oh, sorry Cloud." His grip on Cloud's shoulders relaxed, but he didn't remove his hands. "Must've been asleep." Zack leaned his head forward, resting the side of it on Cloud's shoulder, his warm breath flowing onto Cloud's neck, making shivers go down Cloud's spine. "Just five more minute's..."

Cloud wasn't sure what to do. The only way he could move was forward, which would cause him to run full into Zack's body, and he wasn't really wanting to do that, considering that all Zack was wearing was boxers. He could try shoving him away, but probably wouldn't succeed. He wondered how many years Zack had been at ShinRa. "Zack...if we stay here we won't get any breakfast." Cloud said hesitantly.

Zack sighed. "Right." he removed his hands from Cloud's shoulders, but before moving away, he brushed his lips against Cloud's neck, causing a whole new wave of shivers to go through him. Zack went over to the pile of clothes and randomly pulled something out and pulled it on. Cloud couldn't help but watch him as he dressed. His well defined muscles showing under his skin as he moved and...Cloud forced himself to look away, unconsciously touching his neck where Zack kissed him.

Zack turned to look at him and said, "Well, are we going to breakfast or not?" He said as if nothing weird had just happened and opened the door.

'What is with this guy?' Cloud thought as he followed Zack down to breakfast. 'He slams me into the wall, then kisses me, and then acts as if nothing happened?'

They met up with Laguna on the elevator, who looked between Zack and Cloud and then gave Zack a questioning look. Zack shrugged and shook his head. Cloud preferred not to try and figure out what they were gesturing about.

After eating a dull breakfast, Cloud followed Zack and Laguna to the training area. "You go over there with all the other newbies." Zack told Cloud, pointing.

"Where are you going?" Cloud asked.

"I'm in third year training." Zack told him, "And Laguna's in second."

Laguna waved at them as he left. "This is your third year here?" Cloud asked, surprised. Zack didn't seem much older than him...

"Yeah. I started young. I'm hoping to make the SOLDIER cut this year. I've failed twice already." Zack replied with fierce determination in his eyes. He then smiled at Cloud, "Have fun!" He winked and walked away.

Cloud watched him leave, and then forced himself to look away and walk over to a group of people standing in front of another stern looking man. The man rapped out instructions and insults at them, and they all stood in a line for him. Cloud found himself on the end of the line, standing next to a boy that looked a bit younger than him and was obviously bored. "Shinra, Seymour." The man called.

The boy next to him replied, "Here." in a bored tone of voice. The man looked closely at him, and then nodded. Cloud looked at him, too. 'A Shinra?' he thought, 'Like, related to President Shinra?'

He couldn't think about it long, because at that moment, "Strife, Cloud." was called, and he had to reply with a "Here."

The man then proceeded to insult them all. 'I suppose this is what you call the pep talk.' Cloud thought and sighed.

"Spiky, what are you sighing about?" The man roared. Cloud started and looked at him. He should have known his unruly hair would make a target out of him. "Yeah, you shorty. Don't be sighing ungratefully in my presence. The ShinRa company has done all it can for you newbies. It will feed you and house you, and all it asks for is a little interest and participation!" Cloud bit his lip and cowered under his gaze. The man continued yelling in his face. "I don't want cowards either! I could have you kicked out of here before you can blink! You'll be livin' on the streets, doing-"

"That's enough." Said a calm voice from beside Cloud. He looked to see Seymour Shinra looking coldly at the man. The man glared at him and started to retort but seemed to think it better to not say anything under the calm look. He instead went back to telling them about life at ShinRa and training and such.

Cloud continued looking at Seymour and whispered, "Thanks."

Seymour turned to him, his entire countenance changing as he smiled and whispered back, "No problem. I wanted to see how much power the Shinra name carried here... Apparently a lot, even though my family disowned me before I was born." The man looked over at them warningly about their whispering, and they didn't say anything else to each other until they were allowed to leave.

They had an hour break before they actually started any physical training, and Cloud decided to strike up a conversation with Seymour. "So...what did you mean about your family disowning you?"

Seymour looked at him. "If you really want to know, we should find some place to sit, since it's somewhat of a long story."

Cloud nodded and said, "I do, how about we go sit over there?" He pointed to a bench.

"Alright." he replied and walked over to it, sitting down with Cloud following him. "I'm Seymour Shinra by the way."

Cloud sat down next to him, "I gathered. I'm Cloud Strife." Seymour nodded and shook his hand.

"Well, let's see, where to start... My mother was the sister of President Shinra, but since he didn't like her much to begin with, when he inherited the company, she got nothing. She was forced to live as a prostitute for years and eventually had me. When she went to the president for help, he did nothing, not wanting to acknowledge her or me as relations. My mother died a few years ago from an STI." Seymour said, looking at his hands.

"That's awful!" Cloud said, outraged. "So how did you get here?"

"It's not really that bad. Lot's of people have had tougher lives than me. At least I have a name that I can flaunt around when I need to. Anyway, my cousin took pity on me and sent me some money, with the promise that I'd try out for SOLDIER when I turned 14...so here I am." he said, looking up at Cloud, smiling slightly.

"Your cousin...Rufus?" Cloud asked, putting it together.

Seymour nodded, "Yeah, he's actually a lot nicer than the president, he just puts on a cold exterior."

They sat in silence for a while. Seymour then ventured to ask, "So, what brings you to ShinRa?"

Cloud sighed and replied, "Sephiroth is my childhood idol. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be like him, so when I had the chance to try to join SOLDIER, I jumped at it. Though now I'm not sure if it was the best idea..." He clasped his hands together and stared at them.

"It'll be fine, at least you had a choice, right? How about we stick together and get each other through our miserable lives here. Friends?" Seymour said, offering his hand.

Cloud looked up and smiled, taking his hand. "Friends."

Later on, Cloud and Seymour found themselves at dinner, groaning over their aching muscles from their training session. Zack spotted them at their table and headed over with Laguna. "Hey, Cloud! How's your first day been?" He said, slapping Cloud on the back as he sat down.

Cloud winced and groaned. "Painful." He replied.

Laguna sat down as well and asked, "Who's this?" indicating Seymour.

"This is my friend, Seymour...Shinra." Cloud replied.

Zack grinned, "Wow, making friends already. I didn't get friends until at least two weeks in."

"And a Shinra, too... Zack, the only reason you didn't have friends was because you scared them off." Laguna said teasingly, "And who says you have friends now?"

Zack smirked at him, "You're right, I only have lovers."

Cloud, eager to get off that subject, said, "Seymour, this is my roommate Zack and his...uh...friend, Laguna." He introduced.

Seymour nodded to them. The rest of dinner passed uneventfully with a bunch of small talk and company and intructor bashing, and everyone went back to their respective rooms eventually.

Cloud sat on his bed with a sigh and a wince. Zack laughed and asked, "Sore?"

"Just a little." Cloud replied sarcastically, bringing his hand up to rub his tense, sore shoulder.

Zack laughed again and sat next to him. "Yeah, first days-first weeks can be tough. Believe me when I say you don't know pain yet." He put his hand next to Cloud's on his shoulder, rubbing and squeezing it.

Cloud allowed him to keep his hand there, mostly because he couldn't bring himself to tell him to stop. The massaging on his shoulder was just what he needed, and he let himself relax and enjoy it. Zack eventually moved behind him on the bed and used his other hand to massage his other shoulder. Cloud soon was completely relaxed and leaning slightly into Zack's hands, his eyes closed. Zack let one hand drop to Cloud's back and he began rubbing there. Cloud was finding too much pleasure in the relaxing of his muscles to even think about stopping him.

Zack's other hand went to his back as well, rubbing and massaging gently. Soon his hands moved to Cloud's sides, squeezing ever so slightly as he rubbed. The shivers that touch sent through Cloud was enough to wake him from his reverie, and he realized what Zack was doing.

Cloud forced himself to stand up quickly, breaking the contact with Zack's hands, slightly reluctantly. "Uh...sorry, I..." He tried to explain, not wanting to be rude.

Zack just smiled knowingly at him and got off his bed. "I'll just leave you to your sleep then." he told him, and ran a hand through Cloud's hair, sending even more shivers through him. Zack then went over to his own bed, removing all of his clothes but his boxers and laying down.

Cloud found himself staring again and hurriedly looked away. He removed his own clothes as quickly as he could and got into bed, wanting to fall asleep. Part of his brain also told him he wanted to feel more of Zack's touch, so he quickly put those thoughts away, but some just kept slipping out. He eventually fell asleep to mixed thoughts of Tifa crying about something, and Zack running his hands over Cloud's unclothed chest.

Well, whaddya think? Please review. Even if it's a completely blank, anonymous review, I don't care! 


	3. A glimpse of the idol

Hi people! This entire story was started at 3:00 in the morning, so if it seems really weird, know that that is because most of the time I've been writing it, I've been half asleep. Right now I've just woken up, and I started this chapter sometime late last night... Zack is such a shameless flirt...even worse that he actually means it...

Cloud woke up the next morning with even sorer muscles than before. This time it was a deep ache that seemed to come from the inside of every muscle. He sat up and saw that Zack was already up and dressed, reading a magazine on his bed. As if he could hear the screams of protest coming from Cloud's muscles, Zack looked at him and asked, "How are you feeling this fine morning?"

Cloud stood up and winced as he stretched his cramped muscles. "Don't ask..."

"Do you need another massage?" Zack asked him with a too-willing smile.

Though Cloud was sorely (literally) temped to let him, half because his muscles needed the relaxing, and half because he wanted to know what Zack's hands felt like on his bare skin, he shook his head. "Uh...no...thanks..." He said, grabbing some clothes and putting them on to lessen the temptation. He glanced at his watch to see what time it was and almost jumped in shock. ...5:57... "Ah! We'd better get down to breakfast or we won't get any!" Cloud said and hurried out of the room. Because of his haste he didn't notice Zack's sigh or his disappointed look.

Despite how quickly they moved, they were too late for breakfast. Cloud stood disappointed as his stomach complained. He jumped as Zack put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Too bad. Guess we could have stayed in the room and given you that massage after all."

Cloud wasn't sure what to reply. Part of him even wanted to suggest they go back to the room and try again, but he pushed that away. He saw someone waving at a table and smiled to see Seymour. He got up and went over to Cloud and Zack. "Too late for breakfast?" he asked them.

Cloud nodded and his stomach made a grumbling noise and Zack shrugged. Seymour got a sly look in his eye, "Wonder if it works here, too..." he said quietly.

"What works?" Cloud asked, interested.

"Come with me." Seymour said, and headed over to the person who used to be giving out food.

Cloud followed him, and so did Zack, interested. The man looked at them, "It's past six, we aren't serving anymore."

"But the food's right there." Zack said pointedly.

"I repeat, we aren't serving anymore."

Seymour looked him straight in the face, "I request that you feed my friends here."

The man smirked at him, "I don't think you're in position to make requests of me. Who do you think you are?"

It was Seymour's turn to smirk, "I'm Seymour Shinra." he said with emphasis on 'Shinra'. "My cousin's Rufus. We go waaay back. So are you gonna feed my friends, or do I have to get my cousin down here to make you?"

The man glared at him slightly and Seymour raised an eyebrow. Eventually the man thought to better feed them than risk Rufus' anger. He grudgingly handed Cloud and Zack some food, mumbling something about Shinra's.

They all walked away and sat down, Seymour finally unable to keep a straight face, and he burst out laughing. Zack looked at him thoughtfully, "If I had known that would've worked, I could've done it."

"What, you're Rufus' cousin, too?" Cloud asked him.

"No, I just have...connections..." Zack said with a wink, and Cloud decided not to pry further.

Zack looked again at Seymour. "You do rather look like Rufus...maybe not the same facial features, but you have the same hair color, shoulders, legs, and waist as him." He said almost offhandedly.

Cloud decided he really didn't want to know, and to change the subject, asked Zack, "Why did you think it weird that you had a roommate? What happened before that?"

Zack's face darkened before returning to it's usual laid back openness. "I was accused of raping my roommate."

"...Did you?" Cloud asked, afraid of the answer, suddenly wondering if he really wanted to share a room with him after all.

"Of course not! I'm not the kind of person who takes something without asking... I did sleep with him, though, and he got very jealous when he found out I was sleeping with other people. So he claimed that I raped him-and with my somewhat...interesting...personality, no one thought to doubt him." Zack said somewhat ruefully.

"Wouldn't they have kicked you out, then?" Cloud asked, believing that no one would have doubted that... Zack's personality was definitely interesting.

"Normally, yes...but sleeping with a Shinra has it's advantages." Zack answered, smirking.

Seymour's eyes widened, "What? Who, the President?"

"Ugh, no. I wouldn't sleep with him if you paid me. Your cousin Rufus, of course." Zack said with a grin.

"You were sleeping with Rufus Shinra?" Cloud asked, shocked.

Zack smiled again, leaning an elbow on the table, having finished his breakfast. "Not were, am."

"Huh?"

"I am sleeping with Rufus Shinra."

Seymour and Cloud just stared at him. Seymour finally breaking the silence with, "Wow...you must be good."

Zack looked at him thoughtfully. "You wanna see just how good? I'm sure I can fit another Shinra into my schedule." He said with a smirk.

Seymour's face turned a bright red, "No, no! I...uh...er..." he stuttered, embarrassed.

Zack laughed, "Relax, I was just kidding. Though if you ever want to...know that my pants are always open."

Cloud decided to bail his embarrassed friend out, "Well...look at the time. We'd better get to training or we'll be yelled at again, right Seymour?" He stood up.

"Yeah, right." Seymour stood up, and they both started to leave.

"Uh, bye, Zack." Cloud called.

Zack laughed and waved at them, "Bye Cloud, bye Seymour! We should really get together some night." He blew a kiss their direction and winked. Both of them felt their faces heat a bit and they hurried to training.

Training that day was even worse then before. They were forced to go through many exercises with weights strapped to their wrists and ankles. Long before they were done, Cloud was out of energy. They were currently running many laps around the gym area, and Cloud had to stop for a breath. He watched the area around him. He could see the elevator area as well as the stairs. He thought he saw some movement on the stairs. Yes, there it was, someone was coming up. Someone with long silver hair. Cloud held his breath, even though he was out of air to begin with. Could it be...?

It was. It was his childhood hero...the whole reason he was here. Sephiroth. 'Please look at me, please look at me.' Cloud pleaded silently. Sephiroth started up the next staircase. His hair swished behind him as he walked, caressing his black leather clad back. His eyes were the most piercing green Cloud had ever seen. Cloud couldn't help but stare at the muscles under the leather cross straps on his chest. He watched Sephiroth walk away without even a glance at Cloud... He sighed, letting out the breath that he had been holding, and went back to trying to breathe properly. 'How can a person like that exist...? It's like he's too perfect to be real.' Cloud thought.

"Spiky! Get back to running!" The instructor yelled, and Cloud hurried to obey.

At dinner, Cloud hardly touched his food. He doubted his body would have enough energy to digest it, much less pick up a fork.

"Training that bad, huh?" Zack asked, sitting next to him.

"Worse." Cloud replied, shoving his plate away, unable to eat another bite.

"Don't worry, it'll get easier once you get used to doing it every day." Zack reassured him, putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud winced. "I think I'll just go to bed." He said and stood up, rather slowly since he felt very weak. He started walking away.

"I'll come with you, then." Zack said, standing up and following him, "You look like you could collapse any minute."

Cloud shook his head, "I'm fine, really...I...just...need to get used to walking again." he said weakly.

Zack nevertheless followed him. It was a good thing too, because as soon as they got on the elevator, Cloud's legs gave up and he fell-right into Zack's arms. Zack raised an eyebrow at him, "You're fine? Really? I'd think if you were fine, you'd be standing by yourself."

"Sorry." Cloud apologized and struggled to get his legs to support himself.

"No need, I'll just carry you to the room." Zack told him, sweeping him up into his arms, bride style.

"Really, it's alright..." Cloud protested weakly, though there wasn't much he could do about it, other than feel extremely embarrassed.

"It's no problem." Zack replied, carrying him down the hallway.

Cloud gave up and let himself be carried, his head resting itself gratefully on Zack's shoulder, causing his nose to be filled with a slight spicy scent that could only come from Zack. They reached the room and Cloud was set down gently on his bed. "Thanks..." Cloud said in an apologetic tone.

Zack sat down beside him, "Like I said, no problem." Cloud sat up himself, groaning at the use of his pained muscles. Zack put his hands on Cloud's shoulders and started massaging them slightly.

Cloud was too weak to protest, and he relaxed, thinking he might as well enjoy it. He gasped as Zack touched an exceptionally sore spot. Zack rubbed that spot harder, making Cloud groan in both pain and pleasure. Soon it had loosened up and he moved on to another spot. They sat like that for a few minutes, Cloud's eyes closed as Zack slowly massaged all over his shoulders.

Zack eventually removed his hands from Cloud, and he found himself leaning back into Zack's chest. He wasn't sure why he did it, just that his subconscious was having fun with him. Zack smiled, running a hand through Cloud's messy hair, causing him to shiver. "Cloud...?" he said quietly.

Cloud looked up, to find Zack's face inches from his own. "Wha-" he started to say, but was cut off by Zack's lips pressing slightly against his. It took a moment for him to register what was going on. Zack was kissing him. His mind was telling him to stop, pull away, but that other part of his brain shoved it away.

Just as Cloud was beginning to relax and enjoy it, Zack pulled away and stood up. "Sorry, Cloud...I just..." He turned away, walking back to his bed.

Without knowing what he was doing, Cloud put out a hand, catching Zack's wrist, "Zack...wait." He stood up.

Zack turned to look at him apologetically, "I'm sorry about that...I-" But this time Zack was cut off as Cloud closed the distance between their faces and kissed him. He could tell that Zack was surprised, but he quickly got over it and put an arm around Cloud's waist, pulling him closer. It was Cloud's turn to be surprised, and his brain asked him what he was doing, kissing a guy.

His brain was pushed away yet again as he felt teeth nipping at his bottom lip, asking for entrance. Cloud gave himself over to instinct and parted his lips, letting Zack's tongue slide in. He hesitated a moment before shyly brushing his own tongue against Zack's. A low noise came from Zack's throat, and Cloud felt another arm wrapping around his waist, bringing them even closer together.

Cloud felt his pulse quickening as their tongues twined together, Zack's hungrily and almost desperately. Without warning, Zack pulled away from Cloud's mouth and instead brought his lips trailing down Cloud's jaw and onto his neck, giving him a chance to breathe, though the breaths that were coming were heavy and quick. Cloud tilted his head back instinctively and brought his hands up to grasp Zack's shoulders.

Zack's own hands abandoned Cloud's waist to move to his chest. They moved under his shirt, caressing him lightly. Cloud fought to keep a moan from escaping his lips, but failed as Zack found one of his nipples and teased it with his fingers. Zack moved his lips back to Cloud's mouth and this time Cloud let his tongue in without having to ask.

Zack's hands continued caressing and teasing his chest, Cloud making soft moans as he leaned into him, the rational part of his brain switched off. He felt his shirt being removed and didn't think to protest, enjoying the sensations sweeping through him. Zack again moved his kisses to Cloud's neck, nipping and kissing softly at it. Cloud found himself moaning frequently, and his hands entangled themselves in Zack's hair. He was enjoying the shivers and thrills that rushed through him at Zack's every touch.

He felt hands straying lower and playing with the waistband of his pants. It was the undoing of his belt that snapped his brain back into focus, and Cloud suddenly thought, 'What the hell am I doing?' He put a hand on Zack's and pulled it away. He then backed away from him, trying to clear the haze of his mind. "Sorry...I...I'm not ready for...for something like that." He stammered, looking at the ground, his face reddening.

Zack sighed disappointedly and ran his hand through his own hair. He looked longingly at him before nodding. "Oh, alright, Cloud. Guess that means I'll have to find someone else for tonight." He said and turned toward the door. Then, glancing over his shoulder as he opened the door, he smirked and said teasingly, "You know...you're awfully hot without your shirt on... I will get you one day."

Cloud's face blushed even more as he watched Zack leave, and he sat on his bed. He suddenly realized that he had a problem as he looked down at his pants. Alright, maybe Zack had aroused him more than he wanted to admit. He grabbed a towel and headed to the nearest bathroom to take a cold shower. He had thought that with two people a room, sixty rooms per hallway, and seven hallways, there'd be over eight hundred boys, but he learned that at least 1/3 of the rooms were bathrooms, and a lot were used for storage, making that only room enough for a lot under 300 boys.

After finishing his shower, he went back to the room and laid down in his bed, noticing that Zack wasn't back yet. He sighed and wondered who he went to go see. Laguna, Rufus Shinra, or someone else? Cloud felt a slight pang of jealousy and shoved it away. 'I was the one who told him no... I don't like guys, much less want to sleep with one... What about Tifa?' Cloud soon fell into a troubled sleep with visions of Tifa, Zack, and Sephiroth's deep green eyes.

Whee, that was fun. Will Zack ever get Cloud? Please review! By the way, the reason I used Laguna and Seymour for names is my randomness. I happened to be listening to the Man with the Machine Gun which is Laguna's battle music in Final Fantasy VIII while writing the part with Laguna, and I was listening to Fight with Seymour from FFX when writing the part with Seymour. I've just finished this chapter at... 3:03 at night. Sigh. 


	4. Mako and Cheating

I just wanna say thanks again for taking the time to read my stories. I also wanna say that this chapter was actually written in the middle of the day, so I don't know if that'll have any effect on my writing or not.

Disclaimer: Sephiroth owns the world. I mean it. Bow to him. Now.

Cloud found that he was shivering as he woke the next morning, and realized it was because he had thrown off his covers in the middle of the night. Zack must have come back from wherever he went, because he was again sitting on his bed reading the magazine. "I want one of those..." He muttered.

Cloud sat up, rubbing his arms and shivering. Zack, hearing the bedsprings groan, looked across the room at him. "G'mornin'!" Cloud's only reply was to grab his covers and wrap them around himself, mostly out of coldness but partly out of feeling uncomfortable at Zack looking at him only in his boxers. As memories from last night flashed behind his eyes, he shivered again, though not out of coldness. 'How could I have done that? I never thought that my first kiss would be from a guy. I mean, I never really thought about looking at guys that way...but then, have I ever thought about looking at girls like that?' he thought to himself and realized that the answer was no. There was Tifa of course, but she was the one who liked him in the first place. Cloud had just never thought about having a relationship before.

"Cold?" Zack asked him, noticing the shivering.

"A little, I'm fine though." Cloud reassured him.

Zack smirked, "Are you sure you don't need me to come over and warm you up?"

Cloud's face warmed at that, "No, it's alright..." Though some part of his mind was saying yes eagerly, he blocked it off and looked at his watch. 5:40. "Well, at least we have time to get to breakfast this morning. Just let me get dressed and we can head down." Cloud removed the blankets from around him and grabbed a pair of clothes, purposefully blocking out the look over that Zack was giving him. He dressed as quickly as he could and then walked over to the door.

Zack stood up with slight resignation, as if he would have liked watching Cloud dress much more than eating breakfast, and followed Cloud to the mouth-drying scent of mass-produced food.

They ate breakfast in silence until Seymour and Laguna both came to eat with them, since Cloud was still unwilling to talk about the night before. Laguna gave Zack one of his questioning looks and Zack gave him a slight pained look back, along with a small shake of his head and side look at Cloud. Cloud had the sneaking suspicion that they were gesturing about him, but he decided to try and ignore it as he noticed a slight troubled look on Seymour's face.

"What's wrong?" He asked him. Seymour looked up, startled, and quickly put a smile on his face, "It's nothing. Hey do you know what training we're doing today?"

Cloud suspected he was trying to change the subject, and he let him. "I'm not sure. I remember them saying it was something a bit different than before, but..." he shrugged.

Seymour looked at his watch and said, "I guess we'd better go, then, it's getting close enough that if we don't hurry we'll be late."

Cloud nodded and stood, "Bye Zack, Bye Laguna, we'll see you later." He said to them, interrupting their conversation as he and Seymour left.

Zack waved and called, "You bet you will!" with a wink. Cloud pretended not to hear him.

As it turned out, their training today was quite a bit different, as it wasn't really training at all. "Today, we start your Mako injections." The instructor stated to them as they stood in front of a large room full of odd-looking equipment and strange smells, "You need to be ready and used to them if you're ever going to make it in SOLDIER, so we start you off little by little, and the few of you that make it into SOLDIER with get the full benefits of massive Mako treatments. You will all go in alphabetically, one by one to visit Professor Hojo, who will be doing the injections and monitoring." He then proceeded to call out names.

Seymour and Cloud looked at each other with apprehensive looks. "I don't like needles." Cloud told him.

"Me neither, but I'm more worried about what's inside them. I've lived in Midgar all of my life, but I've had to live as far away from the reactors as I could get, because they made me sick...I hope it's not the same way with this..." Seymour said with an even more worried look than Cloud's.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be alright." Cloud said reassuringly, patting him on the back.

Seymour smiled at him and said, "Thanks Cloud."

They watched as one by one people went in and a few minutes later came out, in varying degrees of dazedness. None would say what it felt like, because, "There aren't any words to describe it."

Finally it came to lower in the alphabet, and "Shinra" was called. Seymour's face took on a very worried and wary expression as he moved to the door. Cloud squeezed his shoulder, and nodded, and Seymour entered the room. You couldn't see where they went, because it was blocked by bunches of metal machinery and boxes, and other things that he couldn't name. Cloud stood there, the worried feeling growing more and more every minute, hoping that Seymour would be okay and knowing that it was his turn after that.

Seymour finally came back through the door. He looked extremely pale and had the worst dazed look out of the people that had come out so far. Cloud looked at him questioningly and Seymour gave him an odd, vague smile. Cloud couldn't talk to him because he was being ushered inside as "Strife" was called.

Seeing Seymour's condition made his unease even worse as he slowly walked inside and rounded the machines. There was a man standing idly there with a syringe in his hand about half full with a greenish glowing thick liquid. He had long black hair that gave off the air that he had completely forgotten that it had existed, as well as a pale face that could have only been acquired from spending so much time in front of monitors and other sources of light which had bleached the color from it. His lab coat was such a part of him that it looked as if he never took it off. The man, Professor Hojo, motioned to Cloud in an almost bored way to come closer, and Cloud did so.

Professor Hojo looked at his list, and then typed something into the computer that was next to him. Cloud saw his own name flash on the screen and showed an odd readout which Cloud couldn't make heads or tails of. The man then picked up a few probes with wires attached and somewhat lazily and automatic, he stuck one to Cloud's wrist, then his neck, and the last one on his forehead. Then with equal boredness and ease,he stuck the syringe he had been holding into Cloud's arm.

It was so sudden that he winced slightly, trying not to shudder. In a few seconds, he understood why no one could talk about it. There really wasn't much to describe it. First he felt pain going through his veins, but it was an odd, sort of earthy-fiery pain. One that made you feel as if it was a part of you, as if you had felt that since the moment you were born. The pain eventually subsided, leaving behind a woozy, longing feeling, and Cloud for a fleeting moment missed the pain. Instead he was left with a feeling of freedom, as if he could do anything he wanted to at that moment.

He soon realized his surroundings, and saw Hojo turning from the readout, which he had been watching avidly, to look almost excitedly at Cloud, and looked back and forth between him and the monitor. "Well...you react very well to the Mako...very well indeed... Haven't seen anything like this since..." Hojo said almost hungrily, and looked back at the screen.

Cloud realized that the needle was no longer in him, and that the probes were gone as well. "Um...sir? Am I done?" he asked hesitantly.

Hojo typed a few things and said absently, "Yes, yes, you can go."

Cloud left the room as quickly as he could without running, and was surprised at the ease in which he did it. It was as if his energy was given a huge jumpstart, which it probably had from the Mako.

After everyone had had their turn, they went back to their training room, "Now!" their instructor called, "We will do the same exercises from yesterday. Let's see how well you perform on Mako. Go!"

They did a few things for a while, and Cloud was amazed at his endurance. Everything was a lot easier than it had been the day before, but he was one of the few who was doing well. Seymour seemed to be doing the worst, he had gone very pale, almost ashy, and he looked to be in a great deal of pain. Cloud moved over to him and asked, "Are you alright?"

Seymour looked up at him dazedly, his blue eyes looking dull and slowly shook his head. "I...I don't think my body likes Mako very much..." he tried to joke, but his smile was more of a grimace.

"You should sit down or get a drink or something." Cloud told him, worried.

Seymour shook his head, "No...I'll be fine in a few minutes-It just...really hurts." He said breathing deeply.

"Well, if you're sure..." Cloud told him, and went back to what he was doing as "Spiky! Shinra! Get to it!" was called.

They started running again. Cloud was still amazed at the energy he had left compared to everyone else, not to mention that all of his nerves seemed to be running at an even higher and sensitive pace than usual...a lot higher. Cloud was still running as he noticed Seymour. Seymour looked as if he was barely standing, but not for long, because at that moment he collapsed.

Cloud ran over to him, "Seymour!" Seymour had definitely passed out. He was breathing shallowly, his face still pale and looking pained. He heard the instructor behind him. "Ah, he's one of those. I'll take him to the medical center. Everyone, continue on!" he called, and picked up Seymour and carried him away.

At dinner that night, the daze that everyone else seemed to have had, had finally gotten to Cloud. He sat picking at his food as Zack sat next to him. "What's up?"

Cloud didn't respond, feeling too weird to say anything as he stared at his tray. He was worried about Seymour.

Zack looked at him. "Cloud, look at me." He grabbed Cloud's chin and pulled his face up to look at him. He stared into Cloud's eyes. "Uh huh, that's what I thought. They started you on Mako today, didn't they?"

Cloud noticed that Zack wasn't moving his hand and managed to nod, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"You've got glowing eyes. Mako eyes. Don't worry, everything should wear off by tomorrow." Zack told him, and slowly removed his hand, letting his fingers trail across Cloud's neck and collarbone before pulling it away. "Where's your friend Seymour?"

Cloud felt odd shivers that went to an area around his stomach from Zack's touch, his senses amplified by the Mako, but he ignored them. "He wasn't doing too well. He said he was in pain and he was all pale and he eventually collapsed."

"Ah, he's got a body that rejects Mako." Zack said and nodded. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I hope." Cloud muttered.

They went back to their room after dinner. A shock was awaiting Cloud on the elevator. There was a person on it as he and Zack stepped on. But this was not just a person...this was... "Sephiroth..." Cloud whispered as quietly as he could. He couldn't stop himself as he stared at the long silver hair that looked as if it flowed off his head, and the glowing deep green eyes that Cloud identified as 'Mako eyes.'

Suddenly, the General stopped looking blankly at the wall and looked right into Cloud's own blue eyes. The trainee blushed and quickly looked away as he realized he was staring. He could feel as Sephiroth's eyes looked away from him. Just his presence was overpowering and Cloud felt as if he would faint if left in that small elevator with him any longer. Even so, he felt a somewhat depressed feeling as the elevator stopped on their floor and he stepped out, along with Zack.

Zack smirked at him as the elevator closed and moved on. Cloud couldn't help but stare at the closed doors. "Wow..."

"Yeah, the General tends to have that effect on people. I have to say we were awfully lucky, you almost never see him anywhere." Zack told him. Cloud continued staring, "Hey, Cloud, you in there? You look like you have a crush on him or something. Give it up, he's untouchable, even by the best...meaning me."

Cloud's face reddened and he shook his head, "What, I don't... Wait, does that mean you've tried?"

Zack smirked and nodded, "Yeah, but talking to him is like talking to a wall, even though he's so damn sexy."

They got to their room, and Zack told him that he was going somewhere, and he might be a while. Cloud didn't pry and nodded, deciding to get to bed early.

Surprisingly, after only about 20 minutes, Zack was back, slamming the door and muttering, "That no good, cheating, lying, unfaithful, rotten, gorgeous asshole!"

Cloud sat up in his bed, looking at Zack, "What's wrong?"

Zack's look of rage and frustration changed for a split second into a smirk and then to a look of depression, "Hold me, Cloud." He said and ran over to him, throwing his arms around Cloud's bare shoulders and neck as he sat down on the bed.

Cloud's involuntary shivers ran through him again, heightened because of his Mako nerves. "Uh...Zack?" he asked questioningly.

Zack put his head on Cloud's shoulder and leaned into him, "I'm being cheated on." he said sadly. Even so, Cloud could tell that he wasn't as depressed as he appeared to be.

"What?" Cloud asked, confused.

"I caught that bastard Rufus with Reeve!" Zack yelled.

"What?" he asked again, "Who's he?"

"Rufus Shinra?"

"No, Reeve."

Zack's grip on Cloud's shoulder tightened, "He's a Shinra employee. I'm not sure what he does, but I think it's something like intelligence work. And he was with Rufus!"

"That's not too incriminating, what make you think you were being cheated on?"

Zack looked up at Cloud, "Let me rephrase that. I caught them with their mouth's glued together and they were half undressed."

"Oh... Did he see you?"

Zack smirked, "You bet he did, and you should have seen his scared face when he saw the look I was giving him."

Cloud looked at him disbelievingly, "Rufus, scared?"

Zack laughed slightly, "Okay, that part I made up. Anyway, what really happened was he asked Reeve to 'excuse him' and he took me to a side room and looked at me. You know what he said? What he had the nerve to say?" Cloud shook his head, "He said, 'Alright, Zack, this is what it looks like, but I happen to know that I am not the only one you're sleeping with, in fact, I'm probably one of the many, so you have no right to get mad at me, got it?'" Zack looked at Cloud, expecting to see a face of pity, but instead, Cloud had an eyebrow raised and was even smirking slightly.

"Well, he was right, wasn't he?" Cloud asked.

"..." Zack looked at him with a fake glare, "You're supposed to be on my side."

"Oh really, and why's that?" Cloud asked, still smirking a bit.

"Because I can do this!" Zack said and pulled Cloud closer, since he already had his arms around him, and kissed him.

Cloud's eyes widened, and he thought, 'I shouldn't have asked.' but, as Zack's hand's moved to Cloud's chest, he revised it, 'I'm glad I did...' He let Zack's tongue enter his mouth and moaned quietly, his lips and mouth feeling even more sensation than the night before. Zack soon moved his lips to Cloud's neck, and then went to trail across his collarbone. Cloud shivered with pleasure, letting out a little moan, Zack's hands still roaming his chest.

Cloud was too dazed to protest, though he knew he should be doing something to stop it. Zack pushed him down onto the bed so that he was laying instead of sitting, and his mouth moved even lower, finding one of Cloud's nipples. Cloud gasped as he felt Zack nipping and sucking on it slightly, and finally got his brain back into gear.

He brought his hands up to Zack's chest and pushed him away, sitting up. "Sorry, Zack, I-"

Zack sighed and brought a hand up to stop him, "No...I suppose that was my fault." he sighed, running his hand through his hair "Well, I guess that Rufus is busy for tonight...but Laguna's always willing." He turned back to Cloud, getting off his bed, "I will get you someday, Cloud. I will."

After Zack was gone, tiredness swept across Cloud and he fell almost instantly asleep, his last thought being, 'I think the Mako wore off.'

Whee! Another chapter done! Will Zack ever get Cloud like he so desires? Muahahaha! You'll just have to wait. Please review! 


	5. Like Sephiroth

A big thanks to Blue Baroness, Saki, Writing Muse, and Darkmaster2 for reviewing! And Writing Muse, the same thoughts had occurred to me about Seymour...and possibly might work their way into the story sometime, but I do have plans for Seymour, Muahaha! Truthfully, I'm not sure when the CloudxSephiroth thing will come in, so for now, I'll just give you teasing glimpses of him once in a while. I know, how cruel. FYI, this is another late night chapter.

Disclaimer: Sephiroth is owned by no one! He is untouchable! Mostly everyone else is Square Enix's.

Cloud woke up around 4:00 that morning, but stayed in bed, not wanting to get up. He sighed quietly, thinking about Zack and Sephiroth. If it was really true that he didn't like guys, then why did he feel so pleasantly strange when Zack touched him, or why did he get that same feeling just by looking at Sephiroth? 'But...I do like Tifa, don't I? She's like a little sister to me...' he thought, and that was it! Of course he liked Tifa, but he liked her as a sister, like a family member. It was the kind of love that could never grow into love, love. 'Alright-I'll admit it to myself...maybe I do like guys. And maybe...if Zack persists, I'll-' he left the thought hanging, and fell asleep again, thinking that he'd try to get as much sleep as he could, since the aftereffects of the Mako and all the exercises were getting to him.

He finally really awoke when he felt lips pressed to his own and a body on top of him. He was quite startled and jumped, opening his eyes to see a face with black, spiky hair. Zack grinned at him and sat up, still on top of Cloud, "Good morning. Boy you are a heavy sleeper. I've tried at least five different ways to get you up, but they just didn't work- though apparently that did. Sleep in more often, will you?" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on either side of Cloud and looking at him, "We don't really need breakfast, do we? Besides, I think I'm a lot hungrier for something else." He smirked.

Cloud felt heat creep up into his cheeks and was tempted more than ever to give in. After all, they were both there...and-

Without warning Zack descended, going straight for Cloud's neck this time, kissing it and then moving upward to lick right below Cloud's ear, and then nipping his earlobe lightly, "Yep, you taste just fine." he whispered seductively. Cloud shivered and drew in a shuddering breath, about to give in, but his stomach chose that moment to growl loudly in the silence.

"I...I think I need breakfast." Cloud said apologetically. Zack sighed depressedly and looked at him with an utter longing look that made Cloud's breath catch in his throat, and he was about to revise his statement, when his stomach growled again. Zack got off him and went over to the door to wait. Cloud sat up and put on his clothes, looking over at Zack just once to catch the look of desire and sadness on his face, before turning guiltily away.

They made it down to breakfast in time, and Cloud sat down, looking worriedly around for Seymour, but he didn't see him anywhere. Cloud ate his breakfast silently, tuning out Zack and Laguna's animated chatter. Suddenly, he asked, "Where's the medical center?"

"Floor 32, why?" Laguna replied.

"That Seymour isn't back yet? You missing him already?" Zack teased Cloud, and then added, "You wanting to 'see more' of Seymour?" he asked with a wink.

"Zack, that was so lame, I'm tempted to ground you." Laguna said with a mock pained look on his face.

"From what?"

"Me." Laguna replied, winking.

Cloud blinked at them and stood up. "Floor 32...thanks..." he then walked away.

Zack grinned at him and called, "I'll look for you when I get hungry again!"

Cloud blushed brightly and hurried a bit faster, getting on the elevator and punching '32'. He felt rather let down as he saw that there was no one else on the elevator, but how likely was it to run into Sephiroth two days in a row? The elevator stopped at the floor with nothing interesting- no Sephiroth.

He stepped into a metal room like so many others in this building were. This one had lots of machinery like the place where they got the Mako injections, though everything seemed more orderly. There was a desk in front of him with a person in a white lab coat was sitting. She looked up at Cloud as he arrived and asked, "May I help you?"

Cloud nodded and asked, "I'm here to see Seymour Shinra...is he here?"

"Well...let's see...what would he be here for?" She asked, picking up a clipboard.

"He collapsed yesterday because of the Mako injection he'd been given." Cloud explained, feeling rather intimidated by the bright, harsh shine of everything.

The lady looked up from her clip board, "Oh, him. You said you wanted to see him? Come with me." She stood up and started walking with Cloud following through an area full of metal things and plastic screens, and a constant beeping that came from different places in different tones and patterns. She pulled aside one of the screens to reveal Seymour eating food that looked even worse than Cloud's own breakfast, a bored, annoyed look on his face. "Don't upset him or do anything dangerous, he's still recovering." she told Cloud warningly, and then left.

Seymour's face brightened considerably as he saw Cloud. "Cloud! I am so glad to see you. The people here have no sense of fun, entertainment, or leniency."

Cloud sat on a chair next to Seymour's bed. "Good to see you too. Are you feeling better? Do all your body parts work?"

Seymour's face was much more colored then it was the day before, and he laughed, "I'm fine. I keep telling them to let me out, but they won't. They say I have to stay until at least dinner time before I can leave, for full recovery."

"If you dislike it so much, why don't you just leave?" Cloud asked him.

He got a somewhat embarrassed look on his face, "Well...I tried, but it turns out I have a lot less energy than I would like. I got about five steps before collapsing again." He sighed.

"Then you are not fine! No wonder they make you stay here!"

"Oh, come on. Not you too, Cloud. I'm not an invalid, I just don't react well to Mako."

"That's an understatement."

Seymour's face took on a truly depressed look. "Cloud, do you remember me telling you about that promise I made to Rufus about trying out for SOLDIER?"

"Yeah, why?" Cloud asked worried.

Seymour looked at his half eaten food and confessed, "Well, that wasn't all of it..." He took a breath, "It was also part of the agreement that I stay at ShinRa until I make it into SOLDIER."

"Oh...well that still doesn't sound too awful. You're much better at the training than I am. I'm sure you'll get in." Cloud said reassuringly.

Seymour shook his head, "Don't you get it? I hate it here, I'd rather go back to living in the streets, even in the slums if I have to. But that'll never happen now. I figured that if I got into SOLDIER I'd just quit then, but..."

"But what? What's wrong?"

"There's no way I can do it now. SOLDIERs have to have a tolerance for Mako- not only because of the treatments, but also because of the places they're sent. They told me...they told me to give up and go home...because I'd never be allowed in, not with my Mako allergy. So now I'm stuck here..." Seymour gulped slightly, as if he were about to cry.

Cloud, in a gesture of friendship, held Seymour's hand, "It's still not that bad. I'm sure there's a way out, why don't you talk to Rufus about it? Or you could just leave."

A choking sort of laugh came from Seymour, and he looked up at Cloud ruefully, "Well, if I left, Rufus has people who would and could track me down. And have you met him? I highly doubt he would revise the promise if I asked him. Besides, what would anyone care about me? My life is useless."

Cloud squeezed his hand in slight disbelief of what he was hearing, "What? I would care about you- I do! Stop being pessimistic, and go talk to Rufus, or something."

"Thanks, Cloud, but...how? You need a keycard to get to the floor that is his room and office." Seymour said, squeezing Cloud's hand back.

Cloud shrugged and then an idea sparked. "Well, Zack can get there... Maybe if you talk to him he can tell you."

"Yeah...maybe. Thanks again, Cloud. Just so you know, I care about you, too." Seymour looked at Cloud and smiled a sad smile. "I-" he paused.

"What?" Cloud asked and Seymour held up his other hand in a shushing motion. Suddenly Cloud could hear voices and one word stood out most in his hearing.

"-Strife. He seems to have a very high reaction to the Mako injections. In fact, it's the highest we've seen since yours." Came a voice that sounded lazy and idle...maybe Hojo?

Then a cool, calm and penetrating voice came that sent shivers through Cloud just hearing it, "Is that so?"

"Yes, Sephiroth. In fact, I believe that if he makes SOLDIER he could grow to become something like you. That is if his training and demeanor are up to snuff."

"Like me?" The silvery voice came again, "I'll have to meet this Cloud Strife someday and observe him. If he is, as you say, worthy of becoming like me, he will be worth checking out."

Cloud felt his stomach tightening and heart racing. Sephiroth was talking about him? Sephiroth? Discussing the possibility of becoming like him? Sephiroth? The sound of footsteps moved on as the conversation ceased. Cloud was both glad and disappointed that the screen was closed, so that Sephiroth couldn't see him, but then again, he couldn't see Sephiroth. After they had left, Cloud looked to Seymour, to insure he had not been dreaming or imagining it.

Seymour was staring wide eyed at Cloud. So he hadn't imagined it... Seymour glanced at his watch and said, "Shouldn't you be in training now?"

Cloud jumped and looked at his own watch. He cursed, "I'm late!"

He said a quick goodbye to Seymour, excusing himself before pelting off to training, cursing along the way, unable to think more about what he had just heard. At one point he thought he glimpsed the back of silver hair, but it could have just been his imagination.

As he suspected, he was in trouble, and had to do ten extra laps as well as their training. Finally, at the end of it all, he collapsed in a corner, awaiting dinnertime.

He must have fallen asleep, because when he looked at his watch, it was much later than before. He slowly went to dinner, to find that Zack, Laguna, and even Seymour were already there. He collapsed into a spot next to Seymour and across from Zack. Zack had an almost guilty look, which matched Seymour's, but Cloud was too exhausted to notice.

"How are you feeling?" He asked Seymour.

Seymour jumped slightly, and replied, "I'm doing much better, I can walk on my own and everything." he said somewhat sarcastically.

"I'm glad one of us can." Cloud told him exhaustedly. He ate some of his food and eventually shoved it away. "I'm going to bed." He stated and stood up.

"I'll escort you, then." Zack said, standing up as well.

"I can manage." Cloud told him and made his way out of the room.

Zack ignored his statement and followed him anyway. They got on the elevator, and Cloud was still standing. When it stopped at their floor, though, Cloud stumbled at the slight lurch and fell into Zack's arms. Zack smirked and said, "You sure you can manage, 'cause it doesn't look like that to me. I can carry you again."

Cloud shook his head and managed to stand by himself, leaving Zack's arms slightly reluctantly. They were so comforting...and strong, and warm. They left the elevator and Zack smirked at Cloud again, "You know, if you think this is hard to stand...I can do things to you that'll make your legs turn into jelly."

Cloud blushed and they entered the room. Suddenly, Zack grabbed him and pulled him closely, kissing him. Cloud was startled enough to kiss back, allowing Zack's tongue entrance. His hands were on Cloud's waist, holding him close as he kissed him passionately. One of his hands boldly moved forward and down, brushing his crotch teasingly as he broke away from the kiss and turned out the door, "Sorry, Cloud. Not tonight, I have an appointment- unless you want to wait up for me?"

Cloud's face reddened into an even deeper color, his heart pounding wildly as he fought to control the shivers that were still spreading through him at Zack's touch. He shook his head and managed to say, "Uh, good night..."

"'Night Cloud. I hope you don't need a story to go with that bedtime kiss- I know ones that could have you blushing so deep you'll be purple." Zack said teasingly and left.

Cloud shook his head, which was caught up in a maelstrom of emotions, and went to his own bed, undressing before sliding under his covers and letting blissful sleep take him.

Yay! Five down, however many more to go! I'm so proud of myself for getting so many done in such a short amount of time. Don't get used to such frequent updates-I'm warning you now. I don't think I've ever finished a story in my life unless it was a short, one chapter one. In other words, I need frequent encouragement to make this my first. -hintcough- REVIEW!-hinthintcoughcough- BTW, this chapter has just been finished at 2:20 at night. 


	6. Giving in

Here is the long awaited chapter! Well, I don't really know if you've been awaiting it, but... Anyway, Warning: this chapter contains some citrus flavoring if ya' know what I mean. -wink- This is actually the first time I've written anything as graphic as this... But don't just sit here reading my babbling, read the story and review!

Cloud decided before he awoke, that he didn't want to get up this morning. Not that that kept him from waking anyway. He heard Zack calling his name and trying to shake him awake, but Cloud ignored it, hoping that if he pretended to sleep, it would become real. Then he felt Zack do something that he could not ignore.

There was a cold chill as he felt the covers being lifted off him, to be replaced by a warmth that was more than the blanket could offer. The warmth of a body on top of his. When he felt lips pressed against his, he couldn't pretend he was asleep anymore, and felt himself sleepily kissing back. Zack then turned the simple kiss into a sensual French one, which had Cloud soon gasping for air.

He opened his eyes as Zack pulled away, his body still on top of Cloud's, both of them in just their boxers. "Good morning." he told him with a smirk.

"Huh...?" Cloud replied sleepily, still dazed by the sudden morning and the kiss.

Zack laughed, "It's morning already, sleepyhead. Did you want breakfast...or not?" he asked in a hinty voice.

Cloud blinked at him. Zack's face was awfully close to his, and the warmth comforting. What he wanted more than either of his choices was to let sleep take him again, so that he wouldn't be faced with the emotions that were flying through his head in multiple colors.

"Fine, I'll decide for you." Zack told him, and closed the distance between their faces and kissed him passionately. Cloud didn't protest, glad that there was something physical he could focus on, pushing his befuddled brain away and closing his eyes. Zack's hands traced a path down Cloud's side, his lips and tongue leaving Cloud's mouth in pursuit of different textures. They found their way to his neck and collarbone, kissing and sucking the skin teasingly. Then without warning, it all stopped and the warmth on his body left with a creak of the bedsprings.

Cloud opened his eyes, shuddering slightly with the coldness that he had been left with and turned to see Zack standing by his bed with a pained look. "You're teasing me, Cloud." he said accusingly.

"What?" Cloud managed to say, sitting up.

Zack looked down at the floor and shook his head, "I know how this works. I kiss you and you let me, then suddenly push me away."

Cloud tried to think of something to say. It was true...and he couldn't deny it, but what if he didn't stop him this time...

Zack turned so that his back was facing Cloud and he stared at the far wall. "I...just don't understand it. Not that you wouldn't want me...but why is it that I want you? I can't stop thinking about you, and it's really weird. Usually it's everyone else who comes to me, but there's something special about you Cloud. I understand that you don't like me like that, but I just had to say it. I'll stop bothering you from now on." He said sadly and quietly, and started walking away.

"Zack?" Cloud asked questioningly, his heart pounding at the thought of never kissing Zack again, and realizing that he couldn't stand that, because he strangely enjoyed it. "Please, look at me Zack." he said pleadingly. Zack turned to Cloud, his eyes still on the ground, and they slowly looked up into Cloud's blue ones, full of longing.

"Did you mean that?" Cloud asked him quietly, feeling that he needed to know.

Zack closed his eyes and said, "Of course I did. I want you so badly, Cloud..."

Cloud made his decision and stood up, walking over to Zack and putting his arms loosely around him and then resting his head on Zack's shoulder, "Alright." he whispered into his ear.

"W-what?" He asked, taken aback, and opened his eyes to look at Cloud's head on his shoulder.

"You heard me... I said alright." Cloud told him, gathering up his courage and kissing Zack softly.

He could feel Zack's smile, and let his tongue in his mouth. He engaged Zack's tongue in a passionate battle with more enthusiasm then ever before. Hands held his waist, pulling him close up against Zack, their bare chests touching, and Cloud was very aware that they both weren't wearing much. Soon, Zack moved to his neck, nipping at it teasingly as he led him to the bed and pushed an unresisting Cloud onto it.

Zack settled himself on top of him, one of his legs resting between Cloud's. Zack's thigh inadvertently brushed Cloud's starting arousal, eliciting a slight whimper from between his lips. Zack, apparently wanting more from his position, moved his leg so it rested outside Cloud's, before grinding his hips into him. Cloud moaned at the feeling, and Zack brought his lips back up to swallow the sounds of pleasure from his mouth, while continuing to move his hips against him.

Cloud moaned as Zack's hands caressed his chest and his lips moved to farther down his body, finding a nipple and sucking at it. Cloud let out a gasp of pleasure at the touch, feeling the shivers run through his body. The hands on his chest moved to rub slightly on Cloud's hips and Zack's mouth abandoned one nipple for the other. Cloud was lost in pleasure, and his back arched as Zack moved even lower, licking Cloud's bellybutton, his hands playing with the waistband of his boxers. He then pulled them down and off his ankles, letting them drop to the floor.

Cloud gasped at the sudden air and exposure. He blushed deeply as he saw Zack smirk and let his mouth descend even farther. He shuddered and moaned loudly as he felt something warm and wet lick his erection. "Z-Zack..." he whispered. He felt Zack pause and look at him questioningly, before Cloud gave in and continued, "...don't stop."

This time he felt Zack's mouth cover him, licking up and down it with practiced precision. Cloud gasped and moaned, his hands gripping the bed tightly in waves of pleasure. Zack started sucking and moving in rhythm, causing Cloud to arch his back as he moved his hips along with Zack, wanting him to go faster, and he did.

Cloud could feel the pressure growing in his groin, and suddenly Zack slowed to an agonizing pace. "Zack..." he pleaded, needing him more than ever, the slowness killing him. Zack gave in and worked up to a faster pace. Cloud needed something real to hold on to, and found himself digging his fingers into black, spiky hair in pure bliss. Not being able to hold on longer, he released into Zack's mouth, moaning his loudest in pure ecstasy, the waves of pleasure washing over him in shudders, before subsiding.

He concentrated on controlling his erratic breathing, and soon saw Zack's face hovering over his own, smiling. Cloud smiled back contentedly, before Zack descended to kiss him passionately, a kiss which Cloud returned with equal vigor. Then Zack sat up, removing his own boxers and lifting Cloud's legs. Cloud knew what he was going to do, and also knew that he couldn't handle it, not now. He sat up as well, removing his legs from Zack's grasp. He placed a hand on one of Zack's and said apologetically, "I'm really sorry, Zack, but I still don't think I'm that ready..."

He looked into Cloud's eyes and then down to his own erection. "Alright, Cloud, but I swear you will be the death of me. I'm going to die of pent up arousal."

Cloud looked down and bit his lip, and suddenly decided something. "Zack...come here." he beckoned.

Zack did as he was told, moving next to Cloud, his curiosity not the only thing aroused. Cloud summoned up his courage and pushed Zack down onto the bed, nervous of what he was about to do. He moved his head down between Zack's legs and shyly licked what his found there. He heard a gasp from Zack and licked him again, and then stopped, still feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Cloud, why are you stopping?" Zack asked him in a somewhat pained tone, and grabbed Cloud's head, shoving him downwards. Cloud relented and opened his mouth, slowly taking Zack's hardened member into it. It was a feeling unlike any he had known- odd, but at the same time exhilarating. The moan he heard from Zack encouraged him, and he slowly licked and sucked, moving into a slow rhythm. "Faster..." he could hear Zack mumble, and he complied, increasing his tempo. Then just to spite him, he slowed again, amazed at his own daring. He could feel Zack's hands in his hair and heard a whine of, "Please..." Not wanting to tease him too much, he increased his pace again. Zack's hips thrusted up into Cloud's face as he continued moving and sucking even faster, his tongue dancing in a frenzy. The hand's in his hair gripped tightly and, "Oh, God, Cloud..." could be heard right before Zack spilled into his mouth.

Zack spasmed and shuddered under him, and Cloud swallowed instinctively before pulling away and giving Zack a shy look. Zack smiled at him sweetly, "You did just fine... I needed that, thank you Cloud." He sat up and pulled him into an embrace, before giving him a chaste kiss on the forehead and laying back down.

Cloud lay himself next to Zack, resting his head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Zack," he replied shyly, "but what about training?"

"Forget training. I'm to tired to do anything. I just wanna stay here with you." Zack told him sleepily, and yawned. He wrapped his arms around Cloud's waist after pulling the blankets over them.

Cloud realized he was quite tired as well, and closed his eyes, "Me too..." he whispered faintly, before falling asleep in the warm comfort of Zack's arms.

Later, Cloud woke again, feeling a warm body against his and the memories from the morning flooded before his eyes. He was embarrassed and contented at the same time. He looked up to see Zack awake as well.

"Good afternoon." Zack told him, running a hand through his spiky, blonde hair.

Cloud blushed and smiled at him, "What time is it?"

"About three. You're quite a sleeper."

Cloud groaned. "Great, I'm going to be in so much trouble for ditching training."

Zack smirked, "Yeah, me too...but was it worth it?"

Heat crept into Cloud's cheeks again and he nodded, "Yeah, I think it was."

"Good. I didn't want to hear that I was loosing my touch. Speaking of my touch...do you want more of it?" He asked with a smirk.

Cloud's face was burning as he answered truthfully, "Well...yes, but not right now. I've spent to much time in bed today." He stood up, getting off the bed and letting the covers drop from him.

Zack's face held no shame as he stared openly at Cloud, "I think I could have an orgasm just looking at you naked." he stated.

Cloud's face was unable to get any redder, and he quickly found some clothes to put on. Zack sighed and got out of Cloud's bed as well, and noting how Cloud stared right back at him, he made a show of pulling his clothes on languidly and sensually.

Cloud tore his gaze away and asked, "Well, what should we do now? It's a little late to use the excuse that we slept in for training."

Zack finished dressing quickly when he realized he didn't have an audience and replied, "Well, technically we did... But like I said earlier, forget about training. How about I take you on a tour through some of Midgar?"

"Are we allowed?"

"There's no one to stop us, and it's not specifically stated in the rules. C'mon, it'll be fun."

Cloud sighed resignedly, "Oh, all right. Lead on."

"Just what I wanted to hear! C'mon, Cloud!" Zack practically yelled, and grabbed Cloud's hand, leading him out the door to make the best out of what was left of the day.

Yeah, I know, this chapter was short, but I'm really tired right now, probably because I've been staying up late so much. It's 1:42 right now, so g'night people. What did you think of my first graphic scene? Please tell me anything you want in your review, even flame me, but know that I've equipped myself with an armlet that absorbs Fire based attacks... Anyway, REVIEW! 


	7. A Day in the slums

Whew, after that four chapters in four days spree, I don't think AFI will be updated that quickly ever again. Sorry. Anyways I'm still very thankful for my reviewers, especially the ones that keep on reviewing, many many many many thanks! It gives me hope for this story. This chapter is long, so get to reading it, and review!

Cloud followed Zack down to the first floor, and realized that he had actually only been there once- the day he arrived. He paused at the door leading out, still feeling uneasy about skipping.

Zack just gave him his trademark grin and said, "Don't worry about it, Cloud! Let's Mosey!" and grabbed his hand, pulling him out the door.

They managed to catch a train headed for the Sector 7 slums, getting on free after showing their ShinRa ID's. Apparently in Midgar, you could get away with a lot in the name of 'ShinRa'. Cloud had never been below the plate before, and as they descended, everything got steadily darker, even though at was only the afternoon. Cloud was sitting by Zack at a window, trying to calm his upset stomach.

"It's a good thing I didn't eat today..." He muttered.

Zack grinned at him, "You get motion sickness, huh?"

"Yeah... It's so dark down here." Cloud stated.

"Well, look up there at the Plate." Zack said, pointing upwards out the window, "A floating city...pretty unsettling scenery."

Cloud looked and shrugged, but the things rushing by caused him to turn away and hold his stomach.

They finally arrived at a beaten down station in the Sector 7 slums and Cloud got off in relief and just stood there holding his stomach. Zack laughed at him and asked where he wanted to go. Cloud shrugged, finally fighting off his wave of nausea. Zack looked around and said, "Well, there's not much to do here, unless you want to train, but I think we'll have plenty of that coming. I'll take you to wall market in Sector 6. They've got a bunch of shops and stuff that are sometimes worth checking out."

Allowing himself to be lead, he followed Zack to a big gate. There, Zack pulled out his ShinRa ID again and showed it to the man standing at the gate. The guard nodded and pulled a lever which opened the big gate. After passing through it, Zack took Cloud aside and told him something. "From now on, don't tell anyone or even let on that you're from ShinRa, got it?"

"Why?" Cloud asked, confused.

Zack laughed humorlessly, "People down here don't have a liking for ShinRa. It's the reason they're here living a tough life, and If you were to mention that you worked at ShinRa... Well, let's just say I don't want to carry you back to HQ in separate pieces."

"Is it that bad?" Cloud asked, shocked.

"Worse. There are terrorist groups everywhere. SOLDIER usually puts down any uprisings, but Planet help whoever comes down here alone bragging that they're from ShinRa." Zack told him, "We shouldn't have any more trouble than normal people, since we aren't in SOLDIER and thus don't have to wear their uniform. Though if we do happen to get into something dangerous, you'd better let me handle it. The only reason I failed the SOLDIER tests was lack of focus, not skill. I can't seem to do very well unless it's actually real. SOLDIER tests I know are staged, so I can't really take them seriously and I lose focus. Plus I suck at written tests as well." He shrugged.

Cloud just nodded, and became slightly wary. He also realized that he had never seen Zack fight before, and wondered if Zack's recent statement was true.

They walked a ways to their left and turned. Cloud's eyes were suddenly assaulted with bright lights, sounds, and smells. "Whoa..." he commented, staring at Wall Market with wide eyes.

"Yeah. You've never been to a place like this, have you? Just small town Nibelheim and upper Midgar. Welcome to the lowlife of the city!" Zack said, spreading his arms wide. "If that's your reaction to just this place, I should take you to Golden Saucer sometime. I'll guarantee that your eyes will fall out at the sight of it." He laughed.

Cloud just nodded in awe, and Zack pulled him right into the middle of it all, looking around. "Hmm, where to go..." he said, a thoughtful look on his face, and though it was mean of Cloud to think it, he thought that that look was entirely out of place on Zack's face.

A bright splash of pink and music caught his attention, and he pointed it out to Zack, asking, "What's that?

Zack raised an eyebrow at Cloud, "That's Honeybee Inn, the local brothel."

Cloud gave him a look that managed to incorporate his shock and suspiciousness of how Zack knew that.

"Hey! I've never been in there, really!" He explained to Cloud's disbelieving look, and then smirked, "Girls just aren't my thing right now, and if you hadn't noticed that yet, you're denser than I thought. Perhaps I should educate you some more."

His face reddening suddenly, he shook his head in embarrassment, fishing around for something to say. Thankfully, Zack was the one to change the subject, "How about we get something to eat, since we missed breakfast and lunch already."

Cloud nodded thankfully, the blush draining from his face, and followed Zack through a maze of people to a small restaurant. As they sat down Zack told him, "I would've taken you to the bar, since there's more room there and their food's a bit better, but since legal age in Midgar is 16, and you're only 15...well, I would've snuck you in anyway, but truthfully, with your build you might as well be 12." He shrugged in apology.

Cloud would have been offended, but it was true. He'd always looked young for his age, partly because he was short. The other part really was his body structure. He was very slim, so much so that he had an almost girlish figure and even though he did have muscles, they didn't show. He figured that even if he worked out his entire life, he'd never become one of those people whose muscles stood out. He shrugged back at Zack as a person came over to take their orders.

They both said what they wanted, and the person told them that they pay first in this place, so Cloud started rummaging in his pocket, looking for his gil purse. Zack put his hand on Cloud's and said, "Don't worry about it, I'll pay."

"But..."

"Really, today's outing is my treat." Zack told him and handed over the gil.

"Well...thanks." Cloud told him.

They were handed their food, and upon seeing and smelling it, Cloud's hunger kicked in at full speed, and he dug into it happily. Zack laughed at him as he ate his own. After taking just one bite, Cloud almost moaned in happiness, "This is sooo much better than Shin"  
Upon seeing Zack's look of warning, he revised his statement, "...better than what we usually eat."

They continued eating in relative silence, and finished quickly because of their recent hunger. Afterwards, they left the small building and Zack pointed to the one across the street. "Hey, Cloud, maybe we should get you a dress! You could actually pull off a girl pretty well..." He said, looking him over with a smirk.

Cloud gave him a mock glare and replied with, "I thought you said girls weren't your thing?"

"I could always revise that if a pretty one came around, and you would make a very pretty girl." Zack told him with a grin.

Cloud punched him lightly in the arm and said, "Whatever, you whore."

"Hey! I am not! My services are free and of my choosing." Zack told him with a fake hurt look.

Cloud just shook his head and said, "Well, I promise you I will never wear a dress- especially not from that shop."

They found themselves visiting a few weapons, materia, and items shops, but they didn't buy anything. As they were leaving the shop, a man walked up to them, Cloud specifically and said, "Hey, you're a pretty little thing, how about you come and join me at my house?" He put a hand on Cloud's shoulder suggestively.

Cloud tried to brush his hand off by turning, but the grip just tightened, "No, I don't think so." He tried to say bravely, but his voice shook just a bit.

The man started pulling him closer and Zack stepped forward, looking the man straight in the face, though he was a bit shorter. "Hey, he's taken."

The man laughed at him, "Oh really? Sorry to burst your little bubble, but this one is coming with me."

Zack's face hardened into a glare, a true one. It was an expression Cloud had never seen before. "I'm warning you now..."

Cloud tried to pull away again, but the grip just tightened more, hurting his shoulder and he winced. The man glared back at Zack, obviously dismissing him as a threat. "Warning me? Of what? I think I should be the one warning you. You'd better leave, little boy, or you might not be able to."

Zack snapped, and his fist flew forward to the man's face, but the man blocked it with his other arm. What he didn't notice was Zack's leg coming in for a kick, his foot slamming into the man's stomach.

He grunted and glared more menacingly. Then he tossed Cloud away with almost no thought, his attention focused on Zack. Cloud was surprised at the strength put into the toss as he landed some feet away, most of the impact falling on the same shoulder the man had been holding him by and he grunted in pain.

He looked up in time to see the man throwing a punch back at Zack's face. Zack dodged it and punched again at the man's jaw, this time it connected. The man roared and kicked back at him. Zack's dodge was a hair to slow and it grazed his right hip. Even though it wasn't the full force that hit him, Cloud could see a flash of pain on Zack's face, as he took the slight pause the man made to get his balance back to punch him quickly in the stomach and full on the face.

Cloud still hadn't bother to get up from the spot where he landed and heard the sickening crack of the bone breaking in the man's nose, but the man reacted quickly and before Zack had the chance to move back out of range, a fist hit him in the cheek. Cloud was surprised to see blood on Zack's face, until he saw that the man was wearing a ring, and realized that the blow must have given it enough force to break the skin.

As if the feeling of blood running down his cheek gave Zack and extra burst of power and speed, he threw himself at the man with frightening intensity that must have stunned not only Cloud, but the man as well. Finally with one last burst of energy, Zack's boot connected with the side of his head and the man slumped and fell over. Cloud just looked at him, shocked.

Zack turned to Cloud, breathing heavily and smiled, "I told you I'd handle things. Are you all right?" He bent down to Cloud on the ground.

Cloud nodded and replied, still dazed at the display of power he'd seen from Zack, "Yeah...I'm fine. My shoulder might be bruised...but you're bleeding!"

Zack shrugged and helped Cloud up, "Yeah, well I suppose that's what I get for holding back."

"You were holding back?" Cloud asked, if possible even more shocked than before, as he grabbed the handkerchief his mom told him to always carry from his pocket and wiping the blood from Zack's face.

"Well, I didn't want to kill him." Zack said, allowing Cloud to tend to his wound.

After the blood was mostly gone, Cloud could see that it wasn't as bad as he thought, though it had started to bruise. "Um...thank you." He said quietly.

"It was no problem. When a friend's in trouble, I gotta protect 'em. Even more so if they're a lover." Zack said with his usual smirk.

Cloud could feel himself blushing, and put the handkerchief away, satisfied that the cut had already started scabbing over. "Well, you didn't have to fight him for me, and I'm very grateful, and sorry that I got you into it." he said, looking at the ground.

Zack put his hand on Cloud's chin and lifted it so that Cloud was looking at him. "Like I said, don't worry about it." He then kissed him softly.

Cloud wanted nothing more than to continue kissing him like that and more- if they weren't in a very public place, so he pulled away, his face very red and said, "So, um...where to next?"

Zack understood and told him, "Well, we've pretty much exhausted the possibilities of this place- well, at least any worth exhausting. We've still got some time before dinner, how about we go see what there is to see a Sector 5, unless you wanna go back. Cloud shook his head. Maybe the air in the ShinRa building was cleaner, but everything was so uniform there. Here, everything seemed to carry it's own style, even if it was rundown. He wasn't really relishing the idea of going back to ShinRa HQ just yet.

"Alright, then!" Zack said, grabbing his hand, leading a rather embarrassed Cloud through Sector 6 and on to Sector 5. They did get in a few battles, though none were difficult and Zack took care of them mostly, though Cloud did his share of kicking and throwing rubble. Sector 5 was more rundown than any of the others he had seen and they wandered through there, slightly depressed for these people, and thinking on how lucky they had been. Still, the people here seemed to have more pride in everything and maybe even genuinely happy. They soon found themselves near a church that seemed in slight disrepair, yet sturdy, like most of the other buildings.

The door of the church opened and a girl that seemed about Zack's age stepped out, her hair was up in a twisted ponytail and she wore a pink dress. The basket on her arm held a variety of flowers. Zack watched her closely as she gracefully stepped out and started walking towards them. Cloud watched Zack walked forward to her and say, "Well, hello. What would a pretty flower be doing in slums like these?"

Cloud couldn't help but smirk slightly. Apparently, this was one of those girls he could revise his liking for. The girl smiled at him, "Do you like them? They're only a gil."

Cloud could see Zack smile back at her, and he purposefully kept his distance from them. He knew he could be feeling jealous right now, but he wasn't in any way. He was just amused. Zack let his natural charisma and flirtatiousness shine through him as he told her, "I was talking about you, but if they are only a gil, I suppose I'll take two."

Her cheeks took on a slight pink glow and she asked, "Which two would you like?"

He didn't even look at the flowers as he asked in return, "Which do you like the most?"

"Oh, well...I recommend these purple ones, but you're the one buying." She said fingering flowers that had a pure white center which faded to purple at the edges.

"I'll take two of those then." He said, and she handed the flowers to him. Zack placed a 25 gil coin in her hand.

She looked at it, surprised, "What's all this?"

"It's for the sight of you. Well, I hope to see you, later..." He left it hanging questioningly.

"Aeris." She supplied.

"I'm Zack. This is for you, Aeris." he handed her one of the flowers.

She took it and smiled at him, "But you just bought it from me."

"And now I'm giving it to you. See you around, Aeris." He turned away, back to Cloud.

"Thank you, Zack." She called as he and Cloud walked away.

They got out of her sight and Cloud couldn't help but start laughing. Zack gave him a hurt look, "Hey, what's so funny?"

"You." Cloud replied, still laughing slightly.

"Hey, I was just exercising my charm." Zack told him, looking away and crossing his arms. "I still think you're as hot as ever, especially-"

He was cut off by the sound of yelling and gunshots. Cloud looked around, trying to pinpoint the sounds. Zack looked worried, "Sound's like a rebellion, we'd better go." He tugged on Cloud's sleeve.

Cloud however, stood firm as a commanding voice rang over the sound of struggles, "We give you one last warning before we start showing no mercy. Turn yourselves over, AVALANCHE, if you wish to remain alive." it said coldly.

Cloud gasped. He had heard that voice once before. It had said his name at the medical floor of ShinRa. "Sephiroth..." He whispered quietly.

Zack nodded at him, "This is really bad, especially if they had to bring General Sephiroth out here. And AVALANCHE too... We need to hide somewhere, NOW!"

The urgency in his voice snapped Cloud out of his remembering, and he let Zack pull him behind a building that really looked unused. They crouched as unseeming as they could in the shadows.

Soon Sephiroth's voice came again, louder than before, "We have given you warning, now ShinRa will show you no mercy." It had such a tone of finality to it that Cloud shuddered in fear, even though it was not directed at him. Louder gunshots echoed, as well as screaming. It all seemed frighteningly close. Then they saw someone bloody run past their spot of hiding and just second's later was cut down by a long silver blade.

Cloud felt arms around him and realized that he was shivering in fear. He leaned into Zack as the person on the other end of the sword stepped into view. Sephiroth's presence was tinged with a cold, casual aura, as if he were utterly bored with the whole thing. A SOLDIER stepped up to him and saluted, whispering something and then running back to the main commotion, hefting an evil-looking gun. Apparently Sephiroth was there to stop any survivors, as another person ran by, just to get caught by Sephiroth's unforgiving blade, spilling their body fluids on the ground. The way Sephiroth had just cut them down-just one almost casual swish of his blade, was completely uncaring and effortless.

Cloud couldn't stand it anymore, and he leaned sideways to throw up. When he was done, Zack held him even tighter. Looking back up, he found his eyes meet Sephiroth's disapproving ones and the fear took hold of him even tighter. Sephiroth knew they were there.

Sephiroth was the one to look away this time, as the firing stopped. He walked forward out of their view and they could hear a SOLDIER giving him a casualty report. Then there was the sound of a few people walking away, and everything was silent for a while.

Cloud buried his head in Zack's shoulder, wrapping his own arms around him. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down.

One of Zack's hand's brushed his hair, "Hey, Cloud? You all right?"

Cloud took another deep breath and nodded, "Yeah...I'll be alright. It was...just..."

"That's the first time you saw somebody killed, right?" Zack supplied.

Cloud nodded again, and pulled away from Zack, "And Sephiroth...he, just..."

"Yeah, now do you know why he's the best? He's just...ruthless..." Zack said quietly. "You gonna be okay? We should get out of here and back to HQ before the cleanup crew gets here."

He let Zack take his hand and lead him back through Sectors 6 and 7, and he avoided glancing at any of the many corpses littering the ground.

The train ride back didn't help at all, but he didn't throw up since he had already done it and there wasn't anything left in his stomach. He followed Zack silently to wherever he lead and soon realized his surroundings when he saw the familiar elevator. It reminded him of the time he rode that same elevator with Sephiroth.

This time however, he noticed another elevator door on the other side of the room and he couldn't help but ask, "What's that elevator for?"

Zack looked at it, "Oh, that's the keycard only express elevator. It only goes to floors above 50, which may explain why you hadn't seen it before. It's really something. It's got glass walls so you can see all of Midgar from it, though it is creepy when you think that it's only a bunch of flimsy glass separating you and a long fall... Anyway, you up for some dinner?" Zack asked him as they rode the regular elevator.

Cloud shrugged and they went to the mess hall anyway. Cloud got his food and sat down with Zack, though his stomach told him not to even think about food, so he didn't eat it.

"Cloud!" called a voice, and Seymour sat down by him. "Where were you today?" he asked.

Cloud's face reddened as he tried to think of something to say, "I...uh, Zack and I decided to skip today and visit Midgar." he said somewhat truthfully.

Thankfully, Seymour decided to accept that. "Well, I missed you..." he said and then looked closely at Cloud, "Are you alright?"

Cloud decided that he could tell Seymour at least part of their day, "Yeah, I think so. It's just, when we were in Sector 5, one of the rebel groups were...put down by ShinRa."

"Ah, I get it. Those are never very pretty...I've seen a lot, considering I used to live around areas where they were frequent. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit queasy." Cloud said, and then asked, "Seymour...what was it like living there?"

Seymour's eyes took on a haunted yet longing look. "Well... It was difficult I suppose. You had to work to keep living, yet it made you appreciate life more, you know? Even with the small bit of financial support from Rufus, things were still difficult. I got used to living on two or even just one meal a day... I'm kinda worried that even if I do manage to get out of here, I won't be able to go back to living like that. There were only a few choices for jobs, unless you got really lucky." He told Cloud, looking at the ground.

"Oh...I'm sorry." Cloud told him, not really knowing what else to say.

Seymour just shrugged and stood up, "I'm gonna head up to my room."

Cloud stood up as well, "I'll come with you if you don't mind." When Seymour nodded his assent, Cloud turned to Zack and said, "See you later, kay?"

Zack nodded, deciding to let them go by themselves.

When they reached the elevator, Cloud finally asked the question he had been wanting to, but not knowing if he should pry more, "What did you do for money?"

Seymour smiled wryly, "I knew that question was coming." He looked down at his feet as the rode the elevator and answered, "Well...my mom wasn't the only prostitute in our family..." he said quietly.

Cloud blinked at him, shocked, "You mean..."

Seymour looked at him, his eyes hardening. "Yeah. Look, go ahead and go on about how could I do that, and what was my problem and how can you be friends with a whore and-"

He was cut off by a pair of arms bringing him into a tight hug and a sympathetic voice saying, "I'm so sorry, Seymour. I had no idea...I shouldn't have asked. I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do...or...or anything?" Cloud looked up at his friend whom he was hugging, surprised to see tears running down his face. "What's wrong? Was it something I said? I'm sorry...I..."

Seymour looked down at his friend and smiled through his tears, hugging Cloud back, "Nothing's wrong, Cloud. I...thanks so much for not...well, you know..."

"Running away screaming? With a roommate like mine, did you really think I'd be that sensitive to that sort of thing?" Cloud asked him, breaking away from the hug. "You sure you're okay?"

The elevator opened and they stepped out. "Yeah, I'm fine." Seymour replied. He had stopped crying and was just smiling at Cloud. "You're a really...special, person, you know that? Thanks for being my friend."

Cloud grinned at him, something he had affected from Zack, "No problem."

They got to 'B' and Cloud stepped into the left hallway. "Bye, Seymour, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah... Hey, Cloud?" Seymour asked.

"Huh?"

Seymour stepped forward to wrap him in a tight hug and said, "Thanks again. Goodnight." Cloud was surprised by the hug, but he was even more so as he felt Seymour's breath on his neck and the same shivers that he got from Zack.

Seymour let go and walked off, leaving Cloud to mutter "Goodnight." back quietly.

Cloud went to bed, thinking that although he had slept through half of it, this day had been one of the longest he'd had.

I know, I put waaay to many game references in here, but I'm replaying the game right now for ideas, and some of the things Cloud says just aren't very Cloud-like, so I'm foreshadowing here of Cloud getting Zack's memories. I mean, 'Let's mosey!' is just screaming, ZACK, no? And when Barret points out the plate, and Cloud says, 'A floating city...pretty unsettling scenery.' Barret tells him that it wasn't something he'd expect someone like Cloud to say, and thus, Zack! And I'm not really sure how a motion-sick person would act, considering I don't get motion-sickness. Yeah, lucky me, I can read in a car, boat, probably even a roller coaster and be just fine. I do get headaches sometimes, but no nausea. Okay, now I'm just babbling, so REVIEW! That little button that tells you to submit a review? Yeah, it's talking to you. 


	8. Surprise test

I'm gonna be on vacation for the next week or two, but I promised myself I'd post this chapter before I left, no matter how short it is. I know, you're all waiting for some more Sephiroth action, and I will get to it eventually...maybe even some leading up to it in this chapter.

Cloud sat up quickly from an odd dream in which he had been falling a long ways, and wouldn't stop. Oddly enough the ShinRa logo kept flashing by him while he was falling. He looked at his watch and reasoned that there would be enough time to get to breakfast if they got dressed now, but Zack was still asleep.

Cloud felt so strangely Zack-ish as a sudden idea popped into his mind. He smirked as Zack would have done as he crept over to Zack's bed, throwing off the covers and replacing them with himself. He then kissed him.

Zack's eyes fluttered open and he smirked under Cloud's lips, bringing his arms around to pull Cloud firmly to him, and deepened the kiss. Cloud soon pulled away for air and grinned at him, sitting up and simply saying, "Payback."

Zack shook his head, "Payback or not, it's hard to think of a more pleasant awakening than that..." He sat up himself, pulling Cloud closer again for another intense kiss.

Cloud played along with him for a while, but soon pulled away and told him, "As much as I'd like to stay here, there's some food calling my name and immanent punishment in my painful future. Wouldn't want to miss that." he added sarcastically.

"I hear ya'." Zack sighed, and started pulling on his clothes. Cloud went over to his side of the room to do the same, sneaking glances at Zack only to be caught by Zack's own wandering eyes. This time, he fought the blush and won.

Even though it may have been the weekend, there apparently weren't many days off that they got, and today wasn't one of them. They both went down to breakfast, and on the elevator, Zack took the opportunity while they were alone to kiss Cloud once again, and as they reached the mess hall floor and the doors started to open, Cloud broke away hurriedly and embarrassedly, fiddling with his hair. Not that any change in it was noticeable, it being as stubbornly spiky as ever.

After getting his food, he found Seymour and sat by him, and they both got into a conversation about how bad Cloud's punishment would be for skipping.

"You don't think they'd throw me out, would they?" Cloud asked him nervously.

"Well, if they do, I'll be sure to do the exact same things you did so they'd throw me out, too. This place sickens me, both physically and mentally. Did anyone catch you in Midgar?" Seymour asked.

Cloud was about to say no, but then he remembered Sephiroth's green eyes meeting his, and he sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Sephiroth saw us."

"Sephiroth?" Seymour inquired.

"Uh-huh. He was in that whole AVALANCE raid thing." Cloud said, still looking down. He was remembering the cool way Sephiroth had just killed people, with apparent no thought at all. Yet, Cloud was surprised to find that he still wanted to be like him. He wanted to be able to face deaths without throwing up. He wanted to be able to handle a sword with as much ease as him, he wanted to carry himself coolly and confidently and be called one of the best in ShinRa.

Seymour nodded. "Well, I dunno then. I still don't think they'd throw you out for something like that, but you will get in a whole lotta trouble."

Cloud sighed and looked at his watch. "Well, guess I'd better go face my immanent doom, then." He stood up.

Seymour stood as well, saying, "I'll be there to carry your body."

"You sure you want to be faced with such horror? I couldn't bear it if you passed out because of my screaming." Cloud said resignedly as he and Seymour walked to their training.

They got there and stood in line Cloud mentally wincing as each name was called. He felt like his body was an entire, tensed rubber band, just waiting for some one to come and snap it as "Shinra." was called. A few moments later, it was "Strife."

Cloud tried to put some backbone into his voice, but it was just as worried as the rest of him, "Here."

The instructor looked up from his papers and raised an eyebrow at him, glaring. "And I was expecting you to be gone again. Spiky, where were you yesterday?"

Cloud had gone through so many excuses he could have given, but at that his mind froze and he stumbled over his words, "Well, sir, I...I was, just..."

Someone must have sent a guardian angel over him, because at that moment, they were interrupted by a messenger coming in and whispering something to their instructor. His glare increased more and more until he was literally shaking. Cloud felt like he should just go in a corner and shoot himself now to save himself the torture that was impending.

The man continued to glare at him until finally saying, "Strife, your presence has been requested immediately in Professor Hojo's lab. Here is your keycard, now get out of my sight."

Cloud didn't need any more encouragement. Anything to get out of this. He walked as quickly as he could to the elevator. He probably could have taken the express elevator, but he didn't feel like trying it, because as he felt the glare on his back, he heard his instructor calling to him, "I won't forget this, Spiky!"

When he got on the elevator, he nearly collapsed from relief as he swiped the keycard he was given. He did sit down on the floor, since it would be a long ride to get to one of the top floors. He just sat there breathing deeply from relief.

He stood again as it neared the floor, the sudden movement making him feel slightly nauseous and he finally thought to think why he was being called to Hojo's lab. Why just him? Of course, his Mako reactions. What other explanation could there be?

He stepped off the elevator to find himself in another machine-filled, too-bright room. And there was Hojo, gesturing almost eagerly to Cloud when he saw him.

Cloud walked over to him, only slightly less afraid than he had been of his punishment awaiting many floors below. "Strife?" Hojo asked in his lazy voice.

Nodding, he replied, "Yes, sir. You requested my presence."

"Of course I did. I would like to inform you that you have an absolute breathtaking reaction to Mako. Quite astounding, considering it puts you right up there with Sephiroth-like reactivity." Hojo said, brushing a bit of forgotten hair that had fallen out of his ponytail. His voice was very interested and almost hungry.

Cloud did his best to put on a surprised expression. After all, he wasn't supposed to have heard that conversation between Hojo and Sephiroth.

"And, so, because of that, I'd like to run you through another test, one much like the last, to prove that it was not a fluke. Will you allow me?" Hojo's eyes gleamed, making Cloud suddenly more afraid. Though, the way Hojo put it, it was as if he didn't have a choice in the first place, so he just hesitantly nodded.

"Good, good, great. Come with me please." Hojo said eagerly, leading him to a part of the room.

Cloud fought to keep from gasping as he saw someone on a bed with his eyes closed. 'Why do I keep running into you?' he mentally asked the form lying there. This time it wasn't the famous coat and garb that clued him in, nor the famous eyes, or even the famous sword. Yet there was no doubt it was Sephiroth with his silver hair spread under him, and his black leather pants. He didn't have a shirt on, revealing almost menacing, toned muscles. His eyes were closed. Cloud fought from staring, but the only thing he managed to do was keep from drooling. His face reddened as his thoughts turned naughty, wondering what he'd look like without the pants, too. At this, he finally managed to turn away, wondering at the effect having Zack as a roommate had done to him.

Hojo snapped him out of his daze by saying, "Take off your shirt."

Cloud almost jumped, tearing his eyes away from Sephiroth's sleeping form. At least, he hoped he was just sleeping, and he slowly complied with Hojo's request, wondering what the point of it was, other than make his mind wander even more at the thought of both he and Sephiroth being shirtless in the same room.

The reason soon became apparent when Hojo started sticking weird probes to him in different places. Some on his chest, his arms, his head, and other seemingly random places. 'Why did I agree to this?' he thought, looking away as Hojo pulled out another syringe that was about 3/4 full of the greenish Mako, and stuck it in his arm. He did not wince this time, as he was expecting it, but the thought of a needle sticking in him made him almost as nauseous as motion-sickness.

He felt the familiar sensation of the welcoming pain of Mako flowing through his veins. He noticed this time how his body did seem to accept it, making it a part of him, rather than a foreign substance running through his veins to give him a jumpstart. He watched Hojo, whose face lit up at the sight of the monitors. Apparently whatever was happening was good- for Hojo at least. Cloud had no idea what that exited grin meant was in store for him, so he just stood there quietly.

He found his eyes returning to Sephiroth's sleeping form- only to find that he wasn't sleeping anymore. His blue eyes met Sephiroth's glowing green ones and turned away almost guiltily. Hojo, too, had noticed Sephiroth's awakeing and started to blather on to him about scientific terms that meant absolutely nothing to Cloud.

Then Hojo decided to introduce them, "Sephiroth, this is Cloud Strife, then one with remarkable reactivity to Mako. He is here to prove that it was not just a one-time glitch, and so far it has been working. Strife, this is General Sephiroth."

Cloud decided that he had to look back at Sephiroth or seem rude, so he did. He forced himself not to look at Sephiroth's chest or anything else but his eyes. Of course, that was a lot of work as well, as his eyes seemed so penetrating and deep, sending shivers through him that weren't all unpleasant. He nodded and simply replied, "Sir" when he didn't trust himself to say anything else.

Sephiroth made no acknowledgement of him other than perhaps an odd flicker of his eyes, which may have been just the light. Cloud found his thoughts returning to those of earlier and fought his hardest not to let heat creep up into his face, and surprisingly managed it. He could not, however, mantain their eye contact, and trying to find something to look at without seeming perverted, he found his eyes resting on the long, silvery hair.

Hojo, unawares to Cloud's problems, proceeded to the rest of the testing, since apparently there was more to it than just that. He had Cloud run on a treadmill and do various excercises to which Cloud had no problems at all. He didn't tire or run out of breath, since the Mako kept him on an unusual amount of constant energy. The only thing that made have made him not preform his best was the fact that Sephiroth was always watching him, and he felt that if he messed up even once, he'd lose the General's respect forever, yet maybe if he did well, he earn interest in his eyes.

Finally, it was time to test his nerves. It involved poking various objects at different spots and asking, "Can you feel that? Does it hurt?"

When Hojo started poking pins into him and even slicing the skin a little, he was tempted to yell, "Of course that hurts, you idiot!" but refrained from doing so because of Sephiroth's presence. He didn't want to seem like a wimp under Sephiroth's always watchful gaze. It hadn't occoured to him to think it weird that Sephiroth was constantly staring at him. He even sneaked a few glances back at the General, unable to help himself.

Thankfully, when Hojo finished, he used a cure materia on him so all his little cuts and pinpricks were gone. When he was told to leave, he walked as quickly as he could without seeming in a hurry to the elevator, pulling his shirt back on. He watched out the elevator as the doors shut, his eyes meeting Sephiroth once again, and he alowed himself to give the General a full look over before returning his eyes to Sephiroth's intense gaze at him. He blushed and the doors clicked closed, descending to the floors below.

Yep, this one is short, mostly because I have to pack for my trip, since I'm leaving in just a few hours. See y'all in a couple weeks, okay? I'm fully expecting to have 250 reviews when I get back, so get to it! Okay, maybe not quite that many, but...REVIEW! 


	9. Mako advantages

Squee! I'm back! My vacation was fun, but truthfully, I missed this story. If it's possible to miss a story, that is, but I did. 'Course, That means I had a lotta time to think about it, so I actually have a few more events planned out for poor Cloud to endure, Muahahahahaha! Anyway, bigbigbig thanks to my reviewers, you guys are awesomely awesome, I mean, THIRTY reviews? I give you all plushies of Zack with removable clothes! Er...o.O Maybe my sunburn's affecting me? Warning: Lemon!

When the elevator stopped at the floor where training was taking place, Cloud suddenly wondered whether he really needed to go. Couldn't he just say that Professor Hojo had needed him all day, so there was no way he could have gone back to training and his punishment? The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He did feel slightly guilty for abandoning Seymour and skipping again, but the thought of another day of freedom pulled strongly at him. Or maybe the sight of a shirtless Sephiroth staring at him addled his brain.

Whatever it was, it made Cloud push the button to close the doors, so as not to be seen by anyone in his class. Now what was he going to do? He could go back to his room, but that would be boring. The Mako that was still rushing through his veins demanded that he do something active, so he decided to push a button and see where it took him. Not wanting to venture too far away from where he was supposed to be, he pressed the button for two floors above.

The doors slid open, revealing a floor extremely similar to the one he had just left, the only difference being different sounds and different people. The different sounds were of clanking metal, caused by various practice swords, and on closer inspection, one of the people was...Zack! Cloud had managed to select the floor where Zack's year's training was taking place.

He decided to stay on that floor, moving as unobtrusively as he could to a wall where he could observe. Cloud figured that if someone asked him what he was doing there, he could just say he was there to ask his roommate to...uh, return something he borrowed that was needed for training or something like that.

Zack had not seen Cloud, and was sparring with another person using a battered-looking metal sword. His movements were sure and almost mechanical, and he seemed somewhat clumsier than the time he fought the man almost twice his size in Wall market. He swung at the side of his partner, and was blocked by an equally battered sword. His partner turned the block into a swing, sweeping upwards at Zack's ribcage. Zack jumped out of the way, turning so that he was facing the wall where Cloud was standing, trying not to look out of place.

Zack's eyes widened when he saw Cloud, and he froze in surprise. Consequently, his partner landed a swing on his shoulder with and audible smack. Apparently the blades were dull, as all that Zack did was wince and rub his shoulder, and there was no blood. He said something to his partner, walked over to Cloud and said, "Hey, what're you doing here? Is something wrong?"

Cloud hastily shook his head and explained what had happened that morning, and how he got to this floor, ending with, "Do you think I should leave? I don't want to get either of us in trouble..."

Zack laughed and shook his head, placing a friendly hand on Cloud's shoulder, "Nah. My instructor, Zidane, is a pretty lenient, carefree guy. He wont mind if you stay."

Cloud nodded, his eyes examining the practice sword in Zack's hand.

Zack noticed and grinned, "Have they started you on weapons yet?"

Cloud shook his head in answer.

The grin changed to an annoyed look as he rolled his eyes, "They wait too long before introducing things like that in my opinion. So they start on Mako, yet wait for weapons?" Zack sighed, "Well, I suppose it's not my place to say, though it'd be nice if they gave us real experience as well..." A mischievous look spread over his face, "Hey, Cloud...you wanna spar?"

"Huh?" Cloud asked at the sudden question, "I don't really know how...and would they even allow me, I mean...I'm only in first year training and I'm only fifteen..."

"Sure you can! Like I said, Zidane is really laid back. Besides, I started first year training at thirteen!" Zack persuaded.

Cloud mentally calculated what that would mean about his age... "You're only fifteen?" he asked shocked. So sure, was he that Zack was older than him, and Cloud's birthday wasn't that far off...

"No, no, I'm seventeen!" Zack told him.

"But...you're only in third year..."

Zack laughed, "Well, training only goes up to third year. If you don't make SOLDIER after that...you just repeat third year. This is my third year as a third year."

Cloud again was shocked. "And you haven't made SOLDIER yet?"

Sighing, Zack answered, "I told you...I'm just not a good test taker. If only the tests were real, you know? Or if I could pass the written...I'm sure I could get in! I just..." His eyes took on a fiercely determined look.

It was Cloud's turn to put a hand on Zack's shoulder, trying to be comforting. "You will get in, Zack! This year if I have anything to do with it! I could help you study or with anything else you need! I know you have the talent for SOLDIER." he said with his own determined look.

Zack's face broke into a grin and he ruffled Cloud's hair with his hand. "Thanks a bunch, Cloud. I think you're right, I WILL get in this year! Maybe even you could, too!"

"Me?" Cloud asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, why not? Anyway, here!" He handed Cloud a practice sword from the rack on the wall next to them with a challenging smirk. "Show me whatcha got!"

Cloud examined the sword in his hand. He expected it to be heavy and foreign, but holding it was almost effortless, and the hilt rested comfortably in his hand. The effortless grasp he attributed to the Mako that was still running rampant through him, considering he had a slightly larger dose than the first time, and he felt as fresh as ever. He swung the sword experimentally, enjoying the way it sliced cleanly through the air.

Zack watched him for a minute and then started giving him pointers. "Stand like this, and keep your legs slightly bent, never lock your knees. It keeps you balanced and able to react quickly." He said demonstrating. Cloud copied his stance. "Good, now keep your hands like this so that your wrists won't freeze up and your arms will be able to move freely..." Zack continued to give him pointers, Cloud following them almost exactly, adjusting only slightly since he had a different build, trying to keep his balance centered.

"Now swing at me." Zack told him, and Cloud did so, sweeping his blade sideways at Zack's ribs. Zack blocked the attack, "You're gonna have to be faster and stronger than that! Don't worry about hurting me, the most I'll get if you actually hit me is a bruise that'll go away. Now attack me again!"

Cloud and Zack continued for a while, Zack giving pointers when needed, and Cloud doing his best to keep up with everything. Soon Zack started countering Cloud's swings with his own, forcing Cloud to block them. He knew that the only reason he was able to keep up in strength and endurance was the Mako in his veins and because Zack couldn't focus as well in non-real situations.

It took a while for him to notice that they were being watched by Zack's instructor, and he felt guilty for being where he shouldn't, but as Zack said, his instructor was lenient and made no move to scold them or stop them, he just watched with an almost admiring look.

A while and a couple bruises later, Zack was panting and told him they should probably stop. Cloud agreed, feeling slightly worn despite his enhanced endurance.

Zack examined him closely, paying close attention to his eyes and asked, "Cloud...how much Mako did they give you? Surely it couldn't have been that much!"

Cloud replied, "The syringe was only about three quarters full..." He replied.

Zack's face became confused, "Huh...that isn't much...yet you seem as if you got a huge dosage. You definitely have good reactions to it..."

Cloud just shrugged, and went back to the wall to watch for the rest of training, which wasn't long, and then headed to dinner with Zack.

There he found Seymour and told him what had happened that day, apologizing for leaving him.

"It's alright...I'd rather not see you than see you be punished." Seymour told him quietly.

"Are you all right?" Cloud asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine...tired I suppose. I'm going to go to bed." He replied, standing up.

Cloud stood up, feeling guilty and wanting to comfort his friend, "Seymour...I'm sorry, was it something I said? Is there anything I can do? Will you tell me what's wrong?"

Seymour smiled sadly at him, "It's not you at all, Cloud. If anything, you're the only good thing about this place. I've just been feeling depressed lately."

"Have you talked to Rufus yet?"

Seymour looked at the floor and shook his head.

"Well, you really should, okay?" Cloud told him, "Promise me you'll go up there sometime, okay?"

Seymour looked back up at Cloud, meeting his eyes with a smile, "Okay, Cloud. I will sometime, for you." He then sighed and said, "I really am going to bed."

Cloud still felt that he had to say something. "Alright Seymour, but... I'm so sorry for everything that's happened to you, and-"

He was cut off by Seymour's finger on his lips, which sent very pleasant shivers through his body because of his Mako enhanced nerves. "Stop apologizing, Cloud. None of this was your fault whatsoever. You've helped so much more than you can know. Stop fretting, okay? Goodnight." With that, he walked away to the elevator.

Cloud was about to follow him anyway, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked up as Zack told him, "Let him go. Some people don't want to be helped, and take it as a personal insult when it's offered." He said rather solemnly.

Cloud sighed and sat back down to eat his dinner.

When they both went back to their room, Cloud realized that because of his appointment with Hojo, he missed his afternoon shower. He stripped down to his boxers, grabbed a towel and made to open the door.

Zack asked him, from his spot on his bed where he was reading a magazine, "Where are you going?"

Cloud looked back at Zack, slightly daunted at the desire-filled look he was being given, and answered, "To take a shower."

Zack smirked and asked, "May I join you?"

Cloud had no doubt what he meant. He and Zack, clothesless, in a small space together... Somehow, the idea appealed to him, and with his own smirk accompanied by a blush, he nodded.

Smirking even more, Zack stood, taking off all his clothes but his boxers and grabbing a towel. "Lead on, then."

He did so, walking to the bathroom across the hall, Zack following closely. Cloud found his blush growing more pronounced as Zack locked the door behind them and smirked lustily at Cloud, who soon found himself pinned to the wall by Zack's hands and mouth. Well, one hand, since the other opened the shower door and turned on the water, testing the temperature.

When the water was apparently at the right degree, both of Zack's hands moved to Cloud's hips, his tongue dancing with Cloud's passionately. Cloud's eyes were closed and he felt fingers toying at the waistband of his boxers, before they were pulled down to drop to his ankles.

Cloud couldn't help but gasp slightly as cold air from the bathroom and steam from the shower played over his exposed skin. Zack removed his lips from Cloud's and then his own boxers and guided Cloud into the shower. The warmth from the steam had been just a teaser for the water that now cascaded down his naked body. He opened his eyes as Zack joined him in the shower's spray.

That was when he fully realized that he and Zack were standing naked, inches from each other. A warm hand caressed Cloud's cheek, before Zack bent his head forward to let his lips kiss Cloud's wet neck. Cloud tilted his head back, closing his eyes, willing to let Zack touch him almost any way he wanted.

He heard a click and realized it was from a bottle of shampoo when one of Zack's hands started to rub the soap into Cloud's hair, his fingers massaging it gently into a lather. He pushed Cloud against the shower wall, taking him out of the direct spray so that the shampoo wouldn't be washed out immediately. To preoccupied with the lips on his neck and hand in his hair, Cloud didn't notice the other hand caressing it's way down his body until it brushed him between the legs and he felt himself harden with a moan.

Zack's hand in his hair was forgotten as his other hand continued to brush his arousal almost thoughtfully, though to Cloud it was almost torturously. He put a hand on Zack's chest, trailing it across the skin and his other hand gripped Zack's upper arm. He made a small sound of frustration, wanting Zack to move faster, needing more of his touch.

Zack complied, gripping him and pumping slightly. A moan burst from Cloud's mouth, which was then muffled by lips and a tongue. The taste of Zack's mouth mingled with the taste of shampoo that was dripping down his face, but he didn't care. He was in too much pleasure from Zack's touches.

Suddenly, all contact with anything but the shower wall ceased, and Cloud made a small sound of protest. He was then dragged forward right under the direct spray of the shower head, the soap flowing from his limp hair, across his body and then into the drain.

He noticed that Zack was now out of the spray, so he grabbed the bottle of shampoo, squeezing some into his hands, and then bringing them up to massage Zack's black hair. He worked the soap throughout it, and then Zack pushed him against the wall again, letting the water carry away the shampoo.

Zack's mouth then explored Cloud's again, even though they could both map each other's perfectly by now. Zack's whole body was pinning his to the wall, and with a smirk that Cloud could feel, he ground his hips into the blonde's. Cloud's rapturous moan was swallowed greedily by Zack as he ground into him again and again.

Cloud could feel himself shaking with pleasure as their wet bodies slid together, the Mako enhancing every little touch and wave of ecstasy, and he knew that he wanted more. He pulled his mouth away and asked, "Zack...?" He was surprised at how thick his voice sounded, and realized that it was because of lust.

Zack looked at him curiously, "Yes?" His voice, too, was slightly husky.

He took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. "I...I want you. All of you." he said, not really sure how to word it.

Zack's eyes widened his hands gripping Cloud's waist, "Do...do you mean...what I think you mean?"

Cloud nodded, kissing him and whispering, "Take me."

Zack's eyes became even lustier-if possible, "That is a wish I can grant...but not here." He grabbed the knob of the shower, turning it off and opening the door, releasing the steam into the room. He then dragged Cloud out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist and then his own. Cloud let himself be dragged out of the bathroom, still dripping, into their room. Moving over to his bed, still leading Cloud, Zack turned and asked him, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Cloud replied in a lusty voice, letting his towel drop.

Zack needed no further urging, and threw off his towel as well, before shoving Cloud onto his back on the bed and laying on top of him. His lips attacked Cloud's neck with vicious passion. His arm reached down beside the bed, grabbing something. He sat up, still on top of Cloud, his thighs straddling his hips. He held a tube in his hands and squeezed some onto his fingers.

Zack lifted the blonde's legs, spreading them. Cloud had a vague suspicion of what was coming, and he closed his eyes, trying to relax. Nevertheless, he had to bite back a gasp as one of Zack's fingers entered him. He felt it being moved around and did his best not to make any noises of discomfort, but it was difficult, especially when another finger joined the first one, stretching him. He began to wish that Zack would get it over with, when a third joined the other two. Cloud couldn't help but squirm slightly, and he opened his eyes to see Zack lubricate his own erection.

Their eyes met and Cloud was very nervous. Zack leaned forward and brushed Cloud's lips with his own, asking softly, "Are you alright? This will hurt, are you ready?"

Cloud took a breath, nodded and closed his eyes, trusting Zack. He felt the fingers leave him to be quickly replaced by Zack's hardened member entering slowly. Lips were again placed on his, trying to override the uncomfortable feelings. Cloud felt himself relax slightly, and apparently Zack did as well, because he slowly pulled back and pushed in again.

He whimpered in the pain that was caused by the movement, and whimpered again when it was repeated. The Mako not only heightened pleasure, but pain as well. Zack's tongue caressed the inside of his mouth slowly, trying to be gentle. He muttered a quiet "Shhh...It'll be okay..." into Cloud's mouth. His hands held Cloud's waist, massaging slowly with his thumbs.

Cloud wrapped his legs around Zack, trying to do anything to distract him from the pain that Zack's thrusts were causing. He brought his hands up to cling to Zack's back, and eventually found himself digging his nails in, scratching at it with each slow, painful thrust. Zack kept one hand on Cloud's hip, holding him steady, and the other hand stroked Cloud's cheek and neck softly, gently.

Suddenly, Zack's thrust brushed something inside him, sending a shot of pleasure through the spikes of pain, and a moan was torn from his throat. Zack adjusted his position slightly, and with a slightly harder thrust hit the spot exactly. Cloud moaned much louder in ecstasy, and Zack abandoned his lips for his neck, kissing and caressing intensely.

Zack continued to thrust faster, causing sounds and words to spring from Cloud's happily dazed mouth. Being filled by Zack was now a more pleasant experience than he could hope for, as each thrust went deeper and deeper into him. He was lost in a fit of passion, the pleasure overriding the pain as he writhed under Zack.

He soon found himself thrusting his hips up trying to get the most of every movement. The Mako was now a definite blessing, shooting the pleasure through him in almost unbearable measures, the pressure inside him building. His senses were on overload and after a particularly forceful thrust, he came between their bodies with a loud cry of ecstasy, shuddering at the potency of his orgasm.

Zack came soon after because of Cloud's constriction against him, spilling into Cloud's insides with his own sounds of pleasure. They lay there, panting together, relishing the last of the pleasure as it left them. Zack pulled out and Cloud gave a soft whimper at the absence. Laying next to him, Zack kissed him softly and whispered, "Sorry it hurt...it'll get better the next time, and soon it won't hurt at all."

Cloud smiled at him, completely drained of energy, even though the Mako was still in effect. "Don't worry about it. I was the one that asked. Seems like you have my life planned out now..."

Zack smirked, "Just the next few months at least, and only nights or mornings."

Cloud laughed quietly and buried his face in Zack's chest. He made a little, 'hmm' sound, and said softly, "I'm tired, 'night Zack."

"Good Night my little teleport to Cloud nine." Zack replied, but Cloud barely heard it, as he fell asleep within the next few moments, happily.

School's gonna be starting soon, so my updates will most likely be less and less frequent, but I am determined to not abandon this story! Of course, who knows how long that determination will last? The things that have been keeping me going are your reviews. I appreciate them very muchly, so if you wanna see this story continue, REVIEW! 


	10. Confessions

Wow, Have you seen the close up of Zack's face from Advent Children? He's, like, REALLY good looking! I'm so happy! Again, thanks to my reviewers! I LOVE you guys! I'm in a very happy mood right now because I just found a ton of pics from Advent Children. Cloud is so cute, and Reno is definitely drool-able. Why are Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz all left-handed?

Warm arms were wrapped around Cloud when he awoke, and he opened his eyes slowly, blinking to focus them. What he saw surprised him, but only for a moment as he remembered what had happened last night. He was rather shocked at the memory of what he had done, but realized that, truthfully, he would have done it again if given the chance.

He yawned into Zack's chest, noticing how well-muscled it was. It wasn't like Sephiroth's, yet it probably looked more muscled than his own would ever seem. The arm on his shoulder reached up to run it's fingers through Cloud's once-again spiky hair, and Cloud sighed. "'Morning Zack." he said through another yawn, "When's breakfast?"

"Starting about now." Zack's voice replied. "Though it depends, what did you want for breakfast?" He added in a hinty voice.

"Wasn't last night enough?" Cloud asked, before sitting up. He winced and made a small grunt of pain as his nether region protested the movement. He still felt rather drained and his behind was very uncomfortable.

Zack laughed, "Do you need some pain killers?" He seemed to know everything about sex, didn't he? Of course it was because of his experience Cloud supposed, and nodded.

Zack shifted, standing up and grabbing a bottle from beside his bed, which rattled. He opened it, pouring a couple pills in his hand and giving them to Cloud. Cloud took them gratefully and swallowed them immediately, not wanting to wait to get a drink. He slowly stood, grimacing at the pain that it caused him. Making small sounds of discomfort, he hobbled over to his side of the room and pulled some clothes on, wincing every time he moved in a painful way, pointedly ignoring the looks of mirth that Zack was giving him.

"You gonna make it, honey?" Zack asked him playfully, to which Cloud scowled at him.

"I'll be fine." He replied, though the pain in his nether region was telling him otherwise, but he tried to ignore it as much as he was ignoring Zack.

At breakfast, they went over to where Seymour was already sitting, Laguna joining them seconds later. Cloud chose to ignore the triumphant grin that Zack gave Laguna. He now had a pretty good idea what they were gesturing about, and fought the heat creeping into his cheeks, losing somewhat.

As he struggled to sit down comfortably, he kept his mouth firmly closed and face blank as he tried not to show any signs of the pain that it caused him. He caught Zack's eye and blushed. Quickly looking down at his plate of 'food', he tried to act like nothing was going on whatsoever.

To do so, he decided to strike up a conversation with Seymour, asking, "How are you today? Feeling better?"

Seymour just shrugged in response, his face still taken over by his now-usual gloomy cast.

Cloud shook his head, "Haven't seen Rufus yet, then?"

Seymour nodded, not offering more than that.

Cloud was unable to think of anything else as a possible topic for conversation. Even if he did, he didn't think that Seymour would join in. So, sighing, they finished their meal in silence. Well THEY were silent, and Cloud focused on Zack and Laguna's mindless chatter to distract him from the pain of sitting. The pain-killers were taking their own sweet time getting to work.

Finally, they both stood to go to training, Cloud unable to keep himself from wincing at the sudden change in position, and tried to look like he was walking normally as they headed towards the elevator.

"Well, if it isn't mister skipper." A voice called, and Cloud looked up to see one of the older trainees in his year leering at him. "How are you going to get out today? You have an appointment with Tseng, too?"

"W-what?" Cloud managed to say. If there was one thing he was worst at handling, it was bullies.

"Don't give me that!" The older boy said, glaring at him, "After you left, the instructor was so mad he made us do twice as much as normal! And it's all your Choco-headed fault!"

Cloud blinked, not really liking where this was going. "I-it wasn't my choice." he stammered.

"Like hell it wasn't! I seen the way Hojo gets all exited whenever somebody mentions 'Strife'. You're sleepin' with him, aren't ya? Fag!" The boy yelled in his face.

That struck Cloud. It would've been almost funny, the idea of him sleeping with Hojo, if at least part of his insult didn't ring true. He WAS rather intimate with Zack... He had absolutely no idea what to say to that, and just stood there, dumbstruck.

Then, it was Seymour to the rescue. With a loud 'smack!', Seymour slapped the boy hard in the face. In an almost deadly tone, he said, "Don't. Talk. To. My. Friend. Like. That."

He was rewarded with a glare. "My mistake, SHINRA. You're sleeping with the little whore, too, huh?" The older boy said, but didn't strike back. The name Shinra did carry a lot of weight in the building, and Seymour wasn't afraid to use that advantage.

"What did you call him?" Seymour asked coldly through gritted teeth.

Cloud felt awful that he was once again relying on a friend to bail him out of a mess. "C'mon Seymour, let's just go." he muttered.

"No way." Seymour said in his deadly calm voice, "Did you even hear what he just called you?"

"I don't care, let's just go." Cloud said, worried.

Since he couldn't take his anger out on Seymour, the older boy took this opportunity to shove Cloud roughly to the floor, where he landed with a thud right on his behind, sending an unwanted groan of pain out of his mouth.

Seymour's rage was visible, and if the lights were turned off, Cloud would've sworn his eyes were glowing red. He stepped right up into the boy's face and seemed to look down on him, even though he was a few inches shorter. He didn't even say anything, and instead delivered a powerful punch to the side of the older boy's face, making him stagger back.

The expression on his face was livid, and he seemed to be seriously considering hitting Seymour back. The fear of Shinra's wrath, though, was enough to stop him from physically fighting back, so he chose to fling verbal assault at him instead. "Bitch! You're both a couple of cheap whores! Wonder what your mom's would say if they saw ya' now, huh? Wait, they're probably just as skanky as you!"

Cloud could only imagine how much that hurt Seymour. Probably more than a punch ever would. He watched all of Seymour's muscles tense from his position on the floor. Shinra or not, Seymour would get in massive amounts of trouble if he unleashed all of his anger on the boy, and Cloud didn't want to see that happen. Just as Seymour was about to spring, Cloud reached a tentative hand forward and placed it stayingly on Seymour's lower leg, not trusting himself to stand just yet. "Seymour...please, just let it go. He's not worth it. Please?"

Seymour stayed like that for a while, and the tension radiated out from him into the very molecules of the air. Then, he slowly relaxed and took a deep breath, turning to look at Cloud on the floor. "...You're right. Let's go." He held out his hand to Cloud, offering help up.

Cloud reached his arm up, grabbing Seymour's hand and allowing him to help him up. He winced visibly at the pain and ignored the questioning look Seymour gave him. They both ignored the insults being thrown at them and entered the elevator, Cloud allowing himself another quiet grunt of pain.

Cloud was extremely grateful to his friend. "I...uh...thanks, Seymour. Sorry that you were dragged into it. I mean...well, you didn't-"

Seymour cut him off with a shake of his head. "Don't thank me, it wasn't anything, really. I just couldn't stand him calling you a whore like that! Hey, Cloud...are you all right, today? Did he hurt you when he pushed you or something?" he asked suspiciously.

Cloud's face reddened and he shook his head quickly, "No, nothing's wrong, I'm alright."

"Uh-huh..." Seymour said, unconvinced, "Come on, Cloud, what's up?"

Cloud looked at him carefully, wondering if he should tell. "You tell me what's been up with you, and I'll tell you."

"Me?" Seymour asked hesitantly, "I've already said; I hate it here."

"Yeah, but why?" Cloud pressed.

His younger friend sighed, "I guess it's the whole trapped feeling I get here. Like, I have no choice in anything I do anymore, no freedom. At least out there I could choose what to do with my life, even though there weren't any good choices. Plus, I hate the feeling of working for the person who's fault it is that my mom and I had to do whatever we could to stay living. It's...it's just so FRUSTRATING!" Seymour balled his hands into fists as he glared at the door of the elevator.

"So, if you got out of here...would you be able to go back to the life you had before?" Cloud asked him, "You would want to?"

Seymour's face suddenly turned downcast and he looked utterly miserable. "No...I, don't think I could... I don't want to go back to that kind of life, but I don't think I could live here for long either. I'm stuck." He leaned his head on the wall, eyes closed.

Cloud rested a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure you'll figure something out. You still need to talk to Rufus."

He felt Seymour sigh and say quietly, "Yeah, I know." Then, he turned to Cloud, "So, you never told me what was up with you."

He could feel the embarrassment radiating out from himself, "Oh...yeah. Well...I, uh..."

"Yeah?" Seymour prompted.

Cloud let his eyes drop to the floor and his face became even hotter, "I...slept with Zack last night." He admitted.

He lifted his eyes up slowly to catch a somewhat troubled look on Seymour's face, which quickly turned to a grin. "Did you really?"

In answer, Cloud just let his eyes drop again and scuffed his foot in embarrassment.

"I don't blame you. He is good looking and an extremely shameless flirt. Don't be embarrassed. Let me guess, he's been coming on to you for a while?" Seymour asked in a voice that contained no hint of embarrassment about the topic.

Cloud smiled at him, his embarrassment fading. "Yeah. One of the first questions he asked me when we met was if I had laid anyone before."

"And had you?"

"Not you, too?" Cloud asked, though he wasn't really annoyed, "No, I hadn't. Hey, why do you even care?"

Seymour shrugged, "Just curious I guess."

The doors opened on the training floor, and Cloud realized that he had quite a punishment coming. If the instructor hadn't been mad before, he sure would be now. They walked over to line up for role, and Cloud was feeling a bit better, since the pain-killers were taking effect.

He could have sworn he saw the instructor foaming at the mouth a bit when his name came up. Fortunately, no questions were asked and to Cloud's surprise, no punishment set out. After they had done preliminary stretches, Cloud was still baffled on how he had escaped even a word of punishment.

The answer was soon revealed, as their instructor directed their line of sight to a previously unnoticed corner of the room, where a couple of chairs were set up. One of them was occupied by a lazy-looking Hojo, and the other one was presumably for the person standing behind it. That person who was none other than The Great Sephiroth. "Today we have a couple of guests who will be monitoring you today to scope out what ShinRa's got going for new recruits. We'll be starting on weapons today. Grab a wooden sword from the rack that you'd prefer and then get into pairs and await orders." The instructor told them.

Cloud barely heard him, or saw the sometimes angry looks that some of the others gave him. He was watching the tall form of Sephiroth, who's eyes swept the area uncaringly. His attire was as usual. The cross-straps on his chest revealed just a teaser to what he looked like fully without his coat, which hung in graceful folds. The black leather pants clung to his hips before flowing downwards to touch black, sturdy-looking boots. Cloud had a sudden urge to become those pants and cling just as tightly to Sephiroth's flawless waist. The green orbs stopped watching the area indifferently, however, when they lit upon Cloud. He realized he was staring at the silver-haired image of perfection, and looked away quickly, to see that Seymour had been trying to get his attention.

"...all day, Cloud?"

"Huh?" Cloud asked him.

Seymour rolled his eyes, "You've been staring at Sephiroth for the past few minutes... You LIKE him, don't you?"

"W-what? I...uh..." Cloud stumbled, his face reddening once again. He really needed to stop blushing so much.

His younger friend laughed at him, "Don't blame you. He IS the deity of sexiness, which automatically makes him out of anyone's league. Anyway, we're supposed to be pairing off and getting swords."

They both grabbed wooden swords, pairing up with each other without having to think about it or say anything. Cloud felt rather lucky. His spar yesterday with Zack probably just put him ahead of anyone else in the class, and Sephiroth was watching, too!

They went through a few basic poses, all of which Cloud knew from the day before, so he did them with relative ease, even though the Mako had run itself out by the morning. For some reason Cloud found himself thinking that if he hadn't slept with Zack, he probably wouldn't have gotten to sleep at all last night. Mako was like a pure shot of caffeine or something.

They eventually progressed into actual striking and parrying, and Cloud still was able to do everything simply, and he was thanking Zack profusely in his head. More than once he found himself watching Sephiroth, almost hoping that he would acknowledge that Cloud was doing a good job. A couple of times he did find that Sephiroth was watching him, but he made no gesture to acknowledge Cloud's presence.

Even later, they were moving at a much faster speed, and Seymour had to ask to stop for a bit a couple of times. "Man, Cloud, what is with you? You're crazily good. Are you on Mako or something again?"

"No, I just practiced yesterday with Zack, remember?" Cloud told him.

"Well, yeah, but that can't be it...you were on Mako yesterday, too, yet you're still doing really well now. I think you have what they call, 'natural talent'."

"Really?" Cloud asked, pleased with the complement. Now that he thought about it, it didn't make too much sense how he was doing well now. He thought he was relying on Mako yesterday, but Mako only enhances what was there already, such as things like endurance, senses and strength. It shouldn't have anything to do with talent.

Class ended, and everyone went to put their swords away, but before Cloud could, a very cool, almost serene voice came from right behind him. "Strife." It said simply.

Cloud felt that he had jumped a foot in the air, and when he turned, he found himself face to face with the most gorgeous person on the face of the earth. Well, almost face to face, considering that Sephiroth was considerably taller. "G-general, Sir?" He sputtered, his blue eyes meeting unfathomable, alluring green ones.

A brief shadow of uncertainty flickered across Sephiroth's face, before it returned to it's normal distant look. "I'd like you to meet me in my office after your dinner. Here's the keycard." He handed it to Cloud, before walking away without another word of explanation.

Cloud just blinked and stared at the retreating form of perfection, the silvery hair swishing quietly in an unseen wind as it brushed his tightly-clad behind. "What was that all about?" He asked himself quietly after a minute, feeling very odd.

Cliffhanger! I'm SOOO evil! You people who've been begging for more Sephiroth/Cloud stuff have caused me to switch some of the storyline around, so parts of this chapter and the upcoming chapter weren't originally going to happen 'til later. Thanks again for all your reviews, especially you persistent reviewers! See, when you review, you actually have a chance to manipulate the storyline! Really, If it hadn't been for reviews, parts of this story would have been different. If you've been reading this story and NOT reviewing, shame on you. So, um, what was it I've been trying to say? Oh, yeah, REVIEW! Hey, people...would you be interested in another story I'm working on? It'll probably just be a oneshot yaoi in a Kingdom Hearts setting, but that's all I'm gonna say about it for now, muahahaha! 


	11. Meetings in General

I seriously LOVE YOU ALL reviewers! I post the story one night, and I check up on it the next night, and I already have EIGHT reviews? Must've done something right in my last chapter...oh, yeah, cliffhanger. -evil grin- REALLY sorry about the long wait, but school is just killing my free time. (In other words, late nights. I can't do those anymore unless I LIKE being a walking zombie...) So I've been writing this at a rate of about 2-5 sentences a day... . I also couldn't help but add the Meteor comment at the end of the first paragraph. Hee hee.

Cloud was still stunned at dinner. When Zack and Seymour asked him what was up with him, he was hardly able to find a suitable reply. Sephiroth had just randomly showed up and invited him to his office? The General? The Great Sephiroth himself had actually stooped low enough to talk directly to just a lowly first year trainee? Had the planet been hit by a giant Meteor or something, because surely the world was ending.

He finally decided on, "General Sephiroth said he wanted to meet me in his office after dinner." His voice came out hushed and awed.

Zack and Seymour just stared at him, before Zack finally raised an eyebrow and said, "What did you DO? Even with all of my fooling around I've never had to talk to the GENERAL about it. Did you murder someone, were you caught conspiring with anti-Shinra forces?"

Cloud shook his head quickly, "No, I wouldn't do something like that! The only think I can think of doing wrong was when you and I snuck out to the slums... And I'm positive that Sephiroth saw us... Oh well, it was nice knowing you. I'll be sure to send you letters from Nibelheim when they throw me out."

Seymour rolled his eyes, "If they DO throw you out for something, be sure to tell me what it was, okay? And are you so sure that it's for a bad thing? Maybe he was just impressed by your performance today."

Cloud snorted, "Yeah, right. I'm really not that good."

"Yes, you are." Both Zack and Seymour replied at the same time. They all looked at each other and laughed. Cloud still didn't believe that he was very good, but his friends' confidence encouraged him. Maybe if he worked hard, he would be good. Maybe even SOLDIER quality- like Sephiroth. Sephiroth...who wanted to meet him. Well, maybe he would get better IF they didn't throw him out.

Cloud found himself unable to eat his mass-produced food. His stomach was too full of nervous butterflies to handle anything else occupying the space. And so, when there was no chance of putting it off any longer, he pulled the keycard out of his pocket and stood up. "Bye, guys." He said sadly, as if there was no chance of seeing them again.

"You'll be fine." Seymour assured.

"Yeah, see ya' later." Zack told him with a wink.

"I hope..." Cloud muttered, and walked to the elevator, where he slid his keycard in for level 53. The trip made him more nauseous than usual, as he was dreading what would happen. But then again, he WAS going to be in close proximity to the gorgeous form of Sephiroth. Now that he wasn't quite so embarrassed about his...well, liking guys, he didn't have much trouble admitting to himself that he had a major crush on the General. But who wouldn't? As Zack had said, he was damn sexy. He wouldn't be surprised if Sephiroth was a narcissist, and wouldn't blame him either.

The elevator arrived at the floor all too quickly, and yet not quick enough. It was rather funny how his feelings about Sephiroth were completely torn in two. One half was scared stiff of the heartless General, and the other half was wanting nothing more than to sleep with the 'Deity of Sexiness', as Seymour had called him. Obviously he wasn't the only one to have had thoughts like that about Sephiroth, right?

Either way, he found himself staring at a short hallway when the elevator doors opened. There was a door to the left, and another at the end of the hallway. The one to his left had a small plaque on the door that read, "Office". He decided that this was the door he needed, since the other one didn't have anything on it. He gathered his courage and knocked. Better to get it over with sooner than rather than later.

There was no sound except that of his knock echoing. Though it wasn't that loud, it seemed so in the stillness of the hallway. Cloud waited uncomfortably at the door, and when there was still no sign of the door opening, he knocked again, this time a bit more loudly.

Still there was nothing to show that anyone had heard him -or if anyone was in there. He stood there, feeling like an idiot for even thinking that Sephiroth was serious about meeting him. The thought of just leaving was pulling very strongly at him, but so was curiosity. He hesitantly put his hand on the knob of the door and turned it. After all, he WAS told to be here, right?

As there was still no sign of anyone stopping him, Cloud pushed the door open. The lights were on inside the office. In front of him was a desk behind which sat a chair. An empty chair. There was no one there. There also weren't any other chairs. Apparently, Sephiroth did not have visitors often, which made this visit all the more weird. Not only was a trainee one of these few visitors, but Sephiroth wasn't even here. Of course, Cloud didn't blame him. He wouldn't see the point of meeting with himself if he were some one as flawless as the General either.

The other items in the room had no personality whatsoever. They were standard, flawless, and arranged in a practical manner. Books about tactics and training and the like stacked neatly on the bookshelf, no pictures whatsoever on the wall, and filing cabinets spaced evenly along the left wall, labeled neatly in a stern sort of handwriting were the sort of thing encompassing the 'strictly business' feel of the room. It was like no one actually used it, the only thing that said otherwise was the lack of layers of dust piling on everything. It was, like Sephiroth, perfect in an almost excruciating way.

Well, maybe the cabinets on the wall weren't so evenly spaced as he thought. There was a large gap between the last one and the wall, and the reason he noticed this was because of the visible end of a shoe sticking out of it. It was the one thing in the room that didn't seem likely, and that was what drew Cloud to it. He hesitantly inched towards it and found that it was not just a shoe, but someone was wearing the shoe. Coming closer, there was no mistaking the black pants that Cloud had so wished to be, because they were on the body of Sephiroth.

Cloud was shocked. Sephiroth almost looked dead. His face was paler than usual and his usually bright and striking green eyes were duller than expected. They were staring blankly at a point of the wall directly opposite him. One of his knees was pulled up to his chest, across which one arm lay. The other arm was resting on his other long leg, which was stretched out before him, and that's why Cloud saw the foot. The sight scared him- a lot. But he could see the rise and fall of Sephiroth's chest, so he wasn't dead. But if not, what was wrong with the General? This was weird. Really weird.

Cloud followed the gaze of Sephiroth with his own eyes, to see that he had been wrong when he had thought there were no pictures. There was one, and it happened to be right at the point where Sephiroth's cold green eyes rested. It was small and showed a pretty lady with long black hair that shone silvery. She was wearing a simple blue dress, which only added to her beauty, since the plainness contrasted with her exquisitely carved face, making it stand out. The background behind it was indiscernible, as if the photograph had been taken somewhere dark.

Who was she? There were no markings or names on the photo, nor on the picture frame, which was made to bland in with the wall, which explained how Cloud had not noticed it. Who was this woman? The one picture in the room... In all likelihood it was Sephiroth's girlfriend, or even wife. Who knew if Sephiroth was married or single? Well, if she WAS his girlfriend, Cloud could just stop dreaming about this godly form next to him...unless he was bi or something, but still, it was impossible to imagine. Sephiroth and Cloud together? It was hilarious. The blonde sighed and brought his attention back to more pressing matters. Why was Sephiroth in this weird trance-thing when he was expecting a visitor?

Cloud knew he had to go get help or something. This seemed kind of serious, and he even waved his hand in front of the silver-haired man's face, getting no reaction whatsoever. He bit his lip and turned back to the door, deciding to go to the medical floor and tell them or something. His hand grasped the doorknob, and he was about to leave, yet something held him back.

There was a rustling sound coming from the corner and he turned quickly and guiltily to see Sephiroth step out of the gap, completely his normal self again. Well, if a body like his could ever be called normal. Green eyes met blue, and Cloud knew he had to do or say something.

However, Sephiroth spoke first. "Strife. How long have you been here?" The question didn't even sound like a question in Sephiroth's alluring yet almost toneless voice.

Cloud wondered what to say and decided on a lie. "I just got here, s-sir." Great, he was stuttering again.

Sephiroth's once-again bright eyes searched him, and he finally said, "Do not lie unless you can manage it without being caught."

Busted! Cloud lowered his eyes and mumbled, "Yes, sir."

Sephiroth was not done speaking, "And before you try to ask any questions about what you just saw, know that I will not answer any of them, so it would be wise to not try in the first place." he stated. Even though he was being scolded, Cloud's heart could not help but flutter at the almost melodic sound of Sephiroth's voice. The voice that was speaking directly to HIM.

"Yes, General sir." the blonde muttered again.

"Strife..." Sephiroth continued, Cloud's eyes traveling up the form in front of him to rest on hypnotizing green, "My name is Sephiroth, not sir."

Cloud blinked. Had the General just asked him to refer to him by FIRST NAME? Not that he had a last name, but still! "Yes, s-Sephiroth." he replied. Wow, was that weird or what?

"Now that that has been straightened out, You would like to know the reason I have called you here." It wasn't a question, nor did the general pause long enough to let him answer. Sephiroth's stance showed a bit of uncomfortableness, before returning to it's normal state. "I don't ever do this, but I have some advice for you." Cloud had no idea what he could be talking about. "Do not join SOLDIER."

What? Cloud knew he wasn't that good...but his friends thought so, but was he so awful that the General himself had to tell him that he couldn't join. With those few small words, his entire hopes were crushed. His shoulders slouched and his face took on a melancholy cast.

Sephiroth looked troubled, as if he were not expecting this exact reaction. Then his face showed understanding. "Ah...forgive me, I am not used to talking to people much, other than giving orders that is. What I meant was that by becoming a member of SOLDIER, you and your body become the property of ShinRa incorporated. In other words, all departments also have a hold on you. The concern is the Science and Research department. Professor Hojo," Sephiroth paused his voice dripping malice at the mention of the name, "Has taken a particular interest in you. That is to say, your body's natural reactions to Mako."

Sephiroth paused again to let that information sink in. So...he didn't say that because Cloud wasn't good, but rather he had good reactions to Mako? Cloud was confused, and even more so that Sephiroth was even taking the time to tell him all this.

The silver-haired man again spoke, "If you were to join SOLDIER, there is no doubt he would take advantage of that and turn you into his personal guinea pig, and it would not be pleasant. I know." This time, it was not Cloud who averted his eyes, but the man in front of him.

The blonde was swamped with what Sephiroth was telling him. He wanted him to not join SOLDIER so that Hojo wouldn't experiment on him...like he had on the General? He got up the courage to speak and asked, "I think I understand, but why bother to tell me?"

Sephiroth watched him silently before replying, "Because if you were to try out for SOLDIER, there is no doubt you would make it if you continue with your training."

Though it wasn't exactly the answer he was looking for, it gave him a warm feeling to know that Sephiroth had such faith in him. He would make SOLDIER if he tried? And here was Sephiroth telling him not to? It confused him, but he could see the point. But SOLDIER! That was the whole reason he joined ShinRa, to become a SOLDIER like the Great Sephiroth. Wasn't that worth becoming a scientific study?

The silver-haired man, as if reading his mind, said, "I do not recommend trying out. Being Hojo's personal pet is worse than you can imagine. What you just saw here was one of the many side effects that happen from his reckless tests and obsessions with abnormalities or enhancements. He has no concept of morality or of other life. To him, everything is an object without even a name other than a number or description he gives them." The words came out as almost hisses of anger and malice. Obviously, he and the professor did not get along.

So, the creepy way Sephiroth seemed almost dead was because of Hojo's experiments on him? It suddenly didn't seem too much of a sacrifice to give up SOLDIER. Not if it meant leaving his mental health and sanity behind. He remembered the way the General's eyes stared blankly and dully at the picture. Since Sephiroth had started giving personal information, Cloud decided to ask, "Who was she? The lady in the picture."

Piercing green eyes suddenly focused directly on Cloud, as if he had just remembered he was not alone. "I told you before that I would not answer your questions." He replied simply.

"Yes, si-Sephiroth." Cloud replied meekly. Well, it had been worth the try. "Was that all?"

The silver-haired man nodded. "Yes. And I strongly encourage you to take my advice."

Cloud still wasn't satisfied with the only answers he had, and persisted, "I'm still not sure why you would bother to help me. You said before that you never did anything like this, so why me?"

Sephiroth sighed ever-so-slightly. His eyes traveled to the ground, and then met Cloud's again with a soft look that conveyed more emotion than Cloud had thought possible of him. "Because I am currently the only living 'experiment' of Hojo. There have been more, but..." He paused, "I know what kind of horrors he can do. And...it would be a shame for the company and world to lose a person as fine as you." He said the last part in a rush, as if he wanted to not say it, but saying it faster made it easier. His expression hardened again, pulling a mask over his stance and features. "That is all, Strife. You are dismissed."

Cloud blinked. Had he just heard Sephiroth say he was fine. Of course, he couldn't have meant it THAT way, yet it sent Cloud's mind spiraling down a path that would've been insanely embarrassing if Sephiroth had known his thoughts right then. He brought his confidence up one last time to request something before leaving. "SIR, If I am to refer to you by your first name, I request the same as well. I'm Cloud. Strife was my father."

He could have sworn he saw the corners of Sephiroth's mouth twitch, though it was probably just a trick of his eyes. "Fair enough. I will...see you some other time, Cloud."

Cloud couldn't help but smile at him as he turned the doorknob and stepped out the door, looking back over his shoulder to say, "Yeah, see you later, Sephiroth." He closed the door behind him and walked back to the elevator, his heart pounding wildly for some reason. When the elevator arrived at his floor, he stood in the hallway for a while, letting what had just happened absorb into his brain.

When he fell asleep that night, his last thought was, 'I forgot to give him back the keycard.'

I know...I know, "I was expecting more Sephiroth/Cloud action!", right? Well, sorry...but I have to put Cloud through a life-changing ordeal first that will unlock the more confident side of Cloud. THEN I can get started with the real yummy stuff. Heh heh. I gotta say again, all of your reviews were AWESOME and more than greatly appreciated. I should frame them and hang them on my wall... Please continue reviewing! 


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